Tony
Staff member
Have you ever heard those people that say "you should listen to your wife!". Well, I want to punch them in the head right now lol. She told me that she wanted to take our tank to the next level by adding an ro/di system, new lab grade PH probe for more accurate PH measurements, as well as making the fresh water top off automated with the new apex system. If my wallet wasn't screaming before, it's hoping it will die now...
the PH probe that we purchased with the apex kit seems to be bad. In the picture below, you can see that our ph has spiked a few times as well as bottomed out. In a saltwater tank, you are looking to keep a PH of about 8.3. Well we have been VERY low, and VERY high according to the probe. With standard chemical PH testing, we are showing that we are right around 8.0 to 8.1 and that is pretty much where it's staying. So I'm positive that the probe is bad. The one that we have is a standard grade probe and is known for going out of calibration. We also ordered more calibration fluid and I'm going to try to calibrate this one just to see if it's in fact, bad. The Lab Grade probe is way more accurate and stays in calibration longer hence saving money on calibration fluid. And giving us the results that we should be getting. and before you say anything, the kit came standard with the cheaper probe. the lab grade is an upgrade. But now, I can put a probe in my ro/di water to check it before mixing salt and after to see the change and to match the PH before dumping it into the tank.
She also talked me into getting a new, stronger pump for the tank. Well, she didn't have to say much actually. We have a 950 GPH (Gallon Per Hour) pump on the tank now and it's doing great, or so I thought. When we got the tank, as I was cleaning everything one of the screws that hold the impeller in broke off due to the salt in the water. It just rusted through. Ah well, we have 5 more screws to hold that on. Yeah well, I cleaned it yesterday and broke another 2. Not only that, but this pump that is rated at 93 watts is pulling about double that. The new 1200 GPH pump that we ordered is rated at 110 watts, so we are going to check that as well. And yes, the Apex controller tells me how much energy the whole tank is pulling. Most of the time, I'm pulling about 2.3 amps, but when the heater kicks on, it goes just above 4 amps. Yeah, it has a pretty good pull on the system. But, this is FAR less than what I had on my old tank that was HALF the size and running T5HO lighting. I'm loving the LED's lol. so anyway, we ordered a bigger pump for more water flow since I plan on running a phosphate reactor as well as a carbon reactor off of that pump as well. And if the water flow is too much, we can just simply close the valve a bit and we are good to go. The old 950GPH will be used in the 55 gallon barrel to mix new salt as well as pump it into the tank when it's ready.
Along with that, we purchased an add-on to the apex system. It's called an I/O Breakout Box. What it does is gives the system and on or off sensor to tell it to do different things. Such as, I can add a magnetic switch to the door that will not only tell me if someone is in my canopy or stand messing with things, but I can also program it to turn on the light when I open the stand door. Pretty cool, huh? But, we are going one step further. I'm adding two float switches to the tank, or more specifically, to the sump for an ATO (Automatic Top-Off). When water evaporates from a tank, and they all evaporate, ONLY the fresh water evaporates. This causes the salinity, or amount of salt in the water to go up since salt will not evaporate. Just think about the salt flats that they race on, the salt will remain. But in this system, as the water evaporates, it will trigger the small pump that we also ordered to pump fresh water back into the tank until it flips the switch off. There will also be another switch in the fresh water bucket so that we don't run the small pump dry. It will tell the apex system to NOT use the pump and to send us an email that the water bucket is empty. Again, pretty cool huh? lol.
so along with the PH probe, new return pump and new I/O and ATO, we are also expecting what's called Kalk, or Kalkwasser. This in lamens terms is Calcium. But what I purchased is called Kalk+2. And this has calcium, strontium, and magnesium in the same ionic ratios found in aragonite. This means my calcium levels will always be where they should be, about 450PPM (Parts Per Million). Yes, this tank needs all fo that stuff for proper coral growth. But there is a problem. The PH of this stuff when mixed is about 14, WAY too high to just dump in the tank, so it has to have a VERY slow delivery method. How am I going to do it? I'm going to mix it in the ATO system mentioned above. The tank, as long as the house is at the same temp all the time (and it will be with the new digital thermostat), it will have a VERY predicable evaporation rate. Meaning I can just mix the top off water with the Kalk+2 and boom, every thing is taken care of.
I also ordered some new salt that I have not used before. It's called reef crystals. Right now, I'm using standard salt that is used to make saltwater by Instant Ocean. Well, it's great and has done a great job, but with me wanting to get into SPS (Small Polyp Stony) and LPS (Large Polyp Stony) corals, I'm going to need more calcium, strontium and magnesium, as well as more trace elements to help support the corals that eat it up at a much faster rate. So, that is where Reef Crystals comes in. It's made by the same company, Instant Ocean, but it has "higher than sea water concentrations" of said minerals. So it should be a bit better for everything in the tank. The bad part is, just like with adding new fish, you have to acclimate the fish to the water. And with changing the whole composition of the salt that is being used, we are going to have to acclimate EVERYTHING to this new salt by doing a LOT of very small water changes. It will take time, but I'm sure it will pay off in the end.
Along with all of that, comes the most expensive part of the order, the RO/DI (Reverse Osmosis / Deionized) system. As some of you know, I live out in the country and we are on well water. This water has been great for what we were doing before because there is a LOT of calcium in our water, and our water is VERY hard. Although this is NOT good for all of the faucets in the house, the saltwater inhabitants LOVE it. But, along with what's good, there is also that which is bad. Like phosphates (grows horrible nuisance algae), heavy metals (iron, copper and so on) as well as TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) that are in EVERYONES water! This is not something that we want in our tank, but we have dealt with it since there is no chlorine in our water unlike city water.
One thing that we are VERY lucky with is the copper aspect of the water. copper will kill snails and corals and more. Well, all of the water in our house goes through copper pipes, and yes, that is enough to kill what's in my tank. Well, this kit gets rid of that. It has 5 stages of filtration, as listed below.
5 Stages of Filtration:
•Purtrex 5 micron depth sediment filter
•MATRIKX CTO 5 micron carbon block
•MATRIKX CTO PLUS 0.6 micron carbon block
•Two(2) - 75 GPD Dow Filmtec Membrane
•Single Deionization(DI) stage with refillable cartridge
With this kit, I will be getting perfectly clean water that is ideal for putting into a VERY expensive aquarium. And for those large jobs, this system will make 150 gallons per day. That may not seem like a lot, but look again at the size of the filters, down to .6 micron and the membrane is even smaller than that. The DI part of the system is what removes the TDS and there is even a gauge on there to tell you what they are coming in, and going out. Coming in, I'm expecting something around 300 out of my well. Going out, should be 0. Yes, dissolved solids. Just think about what that means, then think about the water you are drinking. There is a reason I put coffee in my water hahaha.
Not only will this give me perfectly clear water, but if I wanted to, I could run a T off the line going from the membrane to the DI canister and I could drink the water that is coming out of it. It's cleaner than what you get in your water bottles. and would help save my coffee pot against calcium. You DO NOT want to drink ro/di water since the DI takes out what is good in the water, or should I say good for you, but ro water is perfect for drinking.
Then, here comes the next issue. We are on a well. This means our water pressure is only about 28psi on average. For this system to operate correctly, we need to be up around 60psi. Not only will it produce more water with less waste (by the way, there is a 4:1 waste to good water), but the membrane will last longer and you will get more life out of your DI resin. So we had to purchase a booster pump. OMG they are proud of those things. But, right on the front of it, it has a nice stamp that I always LOVE to see... "MADE IN THE U.S.A.!" So I know it's quality.
The final thing that we ordered was a float switch. I really dont' want to be hanging around a barrel waiting for it to fill up and then shut off the system. This float switch will work just like the float in your toilet. When the water level is high enough, it will shut off the water flow. And since there is a pressure switch on the pump that comes with it, it will also shut the booster pump off as well.
So there you go. If you listen to your wife, you may end up spending MORE money than you would have on your Rc hobby... doesn't sound right to me, but that is the way it worked out hahaha. No matter though, I love this tank and enjoy sitting around watching all of the fish. Oh yeah, speaking of fish, we added 3 more to the tank today. The wife went out and purchased 3 Engineer Goby's, or better known as Convict Goby's. They are a blast to watch once they are used to the tank. so we are getting a fully stocked tank MUCH faster than I thought we would. Loving every minute of it.
As stated WAAAAAYYYY up there in the post, below is the picture of the PH readings since I have had the system. As you can see, they are all over the place.
the PH probe that we purchased with the apex kit seems to be bad. In the picture below, you can see that our ph has spiked a few times as well as bottomed out. In a saltwater tank, you are looking to keep a PH of about 8.3. Well we have been VERY low, and VERY high according to the probe. With standard chemical PH testing, we are showing that we are right around 8.0 to 8.1 and that is pretty much where it's staying. So I'm positive that the probe is bad. The one that we have is a standard grade probe and is known for going out of calibration. We also ordered more calibration fluid and I'm going to try to calibrate this one just to see if it's in fact, bad. The Lab Grade probe is way more accurate and stays in calibration longer hence saving money on calibration fluid. And giving us the results that we should be getting. and before you say anything, the kit came standard with the cheaper probe. the lab grade is an upgrade. But now, I can put a probe in my ro/di water to check it before mixing salt and after to see the change and to match the PH before dumping it into the tank.
She also talked me into getting a new, stronger pump for the tank. Well, she didn't have to say much actually. We have a 950 GPH (Gallon Per Hour) pump on the tank now and it's doing great, or so I thought. When we got the tank, as I was cleaning everything one of the screws that hold the impeller in broke off due to the salt in the water. It just rusted through. Ah well, we have 5 more screws to hold that on. Yeah well, I cleaned it yesterday and broke another 2. Not only that, but this pump that is rated at 93 watts is pulling about double that. The new 1200 GPH pump that we ordered is rated at 110 watts, so we are going to check that as well. And yes, the Apex controller tells me how much energy the whole tank is pulling. Most of the time, I'm pulling about 2.3 amps, but when the heater kicks on, it goes just above 4 amps. Yeah, it has a pretty good pull on the system. But, this is FAR less than what I had on my old tank that was HALF the size and running T5HO lighting. I'm loving the LED's lol. so anyway, we ordered a bigger pump for more water flow since I plan on running a phosphate reactor as well as a carbon reactor off of that pump as well. And if the water flow is too much, we can just simply close the valve a bit and we are good to go. The old 950GPH will be used in the 55 gallon barrel to mix new salt as well as pump it into the tank when it's ready.
Along with that, we purchased an add-on to the apex system. It's called an I/O Breakout Box. What it does is gives the system and on or off sensor to tell it to do different things. Such as, I can add a magnetic switch to the door that will not only tell me if someone is in my canopy or stand messing with things, but I can also program it to turn on the light when I open the stand door. Pretty cool, huh? But, we are going one step further. I'm adding two float switches to the tank, or more specifically, to the sump for an ATO (Automatic Top-Off). When water evaporates from a tank, and they all evaporate, ONLY the fresh water evaporates. This causes the salinity, or amount of salt in the water to go up since salt will not evaporate. Just think about the salt flats that they race on, the salt will remain. But in this system, as the water evaporates, it will trigger the small pump that we also ordered to pump fresh water back into the tank until it flips the switch off. There will also be another switch in the fresh water bucket so that we don't run the small pump dry. It will tell the apex system to NOT use the pump and to send us an email that the water bucket is empty. Again, pretty cool huh? lol.
so along with the PH probe, new return pump and new I/O and ATO, we are also expecting what's called Kalk, or Kalkwasser. This in lamens terms is Calcium. But what I purchased is called Kalk+2. And this has calcium, strontium, and magnesium in the same ionic ratios found in aragonite. This means my calcium levels will always be where they should be, about 450PPM (Parts Per Million). Yes, this tank needs all fo that stuff for proper coral growth. But there is a problem. The PH of this stuff when mixed is about 14, WAY too high to just dump in the tank, so it has to have a VERY slow delivery method. How am I going to do it? I'm going to mix it in the ATO system mentioned above. The tank, as long as the house is at the same temp all the time (and it will be with the new digital thermostat), it will have a VERY predicable evaporation rate. Meaning I can just mix the top off water with the Kalk+2 and boom, every thing is taken care of.
I also ordered some new salt that I have not used before. It's called reef crystals. Right now, I'm using standard salt that is used to make saltwater by Instant Ocean. Well, it's great and has done a great job, but with me wanting to get into SPS (Small Polyp Stony) and LPS (Large Polyp Stony) corals, I'm going to need more calcium, strontium and magnesium, as well as more trace elements to help support the corals that eat it up at a much faster rate. So, that is where Reef Crystals comes in. It's made by the same company, Instant Ocean, but it has "higher than sea water concentrations" of said minerals. So it should be a bit better for everything in the tank. The bad part is, just like with adding new fish, you have to acclimate the fish to the water. And with changing the whole composition of the salt that is being used, we are going to have to acclimate EVERYTHING to this new salt by doing a LOT of very small water changes. It will take time, but I'm sure it will pay off in the end.
Along with all of that, comes the most expensive part of the order, the RO/DI (Reverse Osmosis / Deionized) system. As some of you know, I live out in the country and we are on well water. This water has been great for what we were doing before because there is a LOT of calcium in our water, and our water is VERY hard. Although this is NOT good for all of the faucets in the house, the saltwater inhabitants LOVE it. But, along with what's good, there is also that which is bad. Like phosphates (grows horrible nuisance algae), heavy metals (iron, copper and so on) as well as TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) that are in EVERYONES water! This is not something that we want in our tank, but we have dealt with it since there is no chlorine in our water unlike city water.
One thing that we are VERY lucky with is the copper aspect of the water. copper will kill snails and corals and more. Well, all of the water in our house goes through copper pipes, and yes, that is enough to kill what's in my tank. Well, this kit gets rid of that. It has 5 stages of filtration, as listed below.
5 Stages of Filtration:
•Purtrex 5 micron depth sediment filter
•MATRIKX CTO 5 micron carbon block
•MATRIKX CTO PLUS 0.6 micron carbon block
•Two(2) - 75 GPD Dow Filmtec Membrane
•Single Deionization(DI) stage with refillable cartridge
With this kit, I will be getting perfectly clean water that is ideal for putting into a VERY expensive aquarium. And for those large jobs, this system will make 150 gallons per day. That may not seem like a lot, but look again at the size of the filters, down to .6 micron and the membrane is even smaller than that. The DI part of the system is what removes the TDS and there is even a gauge on there to tell you what they are coming in, and going out. Coming in, I'm expecting something around 300 out of my well. Going out, should be 0. Yes, dissolved solids. Just think about what that means, then think about the water you are drinking. There is a reason I put coffee in my water hahaha.
Not only will this give me perfectly clear water, but if I wanted to, I could run a T off the line going from the membrane to the DI canister and I could drink the water that is coming out of it. It's cleaner than what you get in your water bottles. and would help save my coffee pot against calcium. You DO NOT want to drink ro/di water since the DI takes out what is good in the water, or should I say good for you, but ro water is perfect for drinking.
Then, here comes the next issue. We are on a well. This means our water pressure is only about 28psi on average. For this system to operate correctly, we need to be up around 60psi. Not only will it produce more water with less waste (by the way, there is a 4:1 waste to good water), but the membrane will last longer and you will get more life out of your DI resin. So we had to purchase a booster pump. OMG they are proud of those things. But, right on the front of it, it has a nice stamp that I always LOVE to see... "MADE IN THE U.S.A.!" So I know it's quality.
The final thing that we ordered was a float switch. I really dont' want to be hanging around a barrel waiting for it to fill up and then shut off the system. This float switch will work just like the float in your toilet. When the water level is high enough, it will shut off the water flow. And since there is a pressure switch on the pump that comes with it, it will also shut the booster pump off as well.
So there you go. If you listen to your wife, you may end up spending MORE money than you would have on your Rc hobby... doesn't sound right to me, but that is the way it worked out hahaha. No matter though, I love this tank and enjoy sitting around watching all of the fish. Oh yeah, speaking of fish, we added 3 more to the tank today. The wife went out and purchased 3 Engineer Goby's, or better known as Convict Goby's. They are a blast to watch once they are used to the tank. so we are getting a fully stocked tank MUCH faster than I thought we would. Loving every minute of it.
As stated WAAAAAYYYY up there in the post, below is the picture of the PH readings since I have had the system. As you can see, they are all over the place.
