Olympus is Calling.

[Zeus.]

Removed the piping, inlets, spraybars pumps that was no longer needed



Fitted the Gyres and the STD Fluval outlet and the Gyre controller to the cabinet




had a play with the various outputs and I do like the Alternating Gyre Mode



But not the way maxspect have it in the graph. But one Gyre A takes 10secs to get to 30% stays there 5mins then ramps down to 10% in 10 secs stays there for 5mins rinse repeat. Gyre B is at 10% when Gyre A is at 30% and so on Like this Alternating Gyre Mode as the 'deadspots' will be moving all the time IMO. Variuos speed for different parts of the day OFC and at night I use the Alternating Gyre Mode again but with one pump stopping to allow the cleanup crew time to clean it for 15mins then they swap over.

Pretty quiet but fond them nosiest at 40% above that they was quieter but will take a few days to bed in. Had them upto about 60% and 😱 all the fish was well out of the current.



Will get a vid as soon as I get time 😉

 

[Guest]

Looks much neater, without all that piping. We just need to see a video now 🙂

 

[Andrew Butler]

I'm sure you're still experimenting but I found mine more effective when they were a little lower in the tank; whether you will have the same experience or not I don't know.

 

[Edvet]

A and B is just different gyres? or are there multiple pumps in one?

 

[Zeus.]

I'm sure you're still experimenting but I found mine more effective when they were a little lower in the tank; whether you will have the same experience or not I don't know.

The new XF300 range have flow directors so the flow direction is better I think, so should be able to go higher in tank IMO.

A and B is just different gyres?

Yes A and B are two separate Gyres which can be mounted either end of tank, I have them side by side.

Just programmed the controller so once an hour during photoperiod the Gyres are on 100% and 30% alternating for 10 mins then both on at 90% for 5mins.

 

[Costa]

How much flow is that @Zeus. in lph? At 100% isn't it too much for your fish? Does it flow reach the bottom third of the tank?

Have a nice day!

 

[Zeus.]

How much flow is that @Zeus. in lph? At 100% isn't it too much for your fish?

Maxspect claim 9000LPH for the XF330 so I have two so that's 18000LPH plus the FX6
At 100% X2 is is too much for the fish, well they do seem to go for the deadspots when the flow is high, but they are in training ATM. Have the set the high flow period for 5mins once every 30 mins ATM.

Does it flow reach the bottom third of the tank?

Had them at 50%:50% last night whilst cleaning the GDA off Glass the surface ripple was to end of tank.
I am not worried about the fish as I have a 3cm rule for max size of fish so lots of deadspots for small fish and the SAE do seem to like the flow same with the RCS.

 

[Zeus.]

Maxspect XF300 x2 Flow/Turnover



My initial thoughts are (+/- emperors new clothes syndrome). Fantastic it was just what I was after , WC was quicker tank cleared quicker after turkey blasting the carpet, probably as FX6 has a higher output without spraybar on OFC, doing schedules takes a little time having a USB/Ethernet connection would be a nice touch so schedules could be done via PC.
Easy of setup - easy
Value for money- Excellent after you price in the cost of pumps plumbing after all the Eheim 3000+ wasnt cheap and had one speed, plus on pipes to clean.
Flow is king in the high tech tank so for my tank the Gyres have just given the flow the variable performance the King deserves. But it is early days OFC .
Glad I waited for the XF330 and not to get the XF230 as they would of cost me more and the upgrades gave a better model.

 

[Guest]

That's some flow. Scapes looking really healthy 🙂

 

[Zeus.]

Scapes looking really healthy 🙂

Too kind Tim 😀 up close all I see is its faults

 

[hazeljane]

Nice looking tank

 

[Zeus.]

Nearly had the Gyres fitted a week so thought a review was due.

pH profile showed the unstable profile on the first day which I excepted OFC as I had been playing with different gyre outputs, plus I always felt my flow/turnover wasnt good enough so I did go for a high [CO2] which with a better flow/turnover I felt I wouldnt need as big a pH drop as the flow would make up for it. So lowered the target pH 0.1pH at a time but left the injection rate the same, played with some output profiles and settled on the Alternating Gyre Mode for all the 19 scheduled outputs I have ATM. The main output is 30% A and 20% B then swapping over every five mins, Five minute bursts of 80% A 30%B every 30 mins during full intensity photoperiod. Plus a 1 min bust of 100% A and 100% B when the CO2 goes off which happens to be x36 output to volume ratio. During the night I have one Gyre on at a time and one occasionally in reverse flow 10% which is keeping any buildup of leaves on the mesh to nothing ATM. Also have an occasional night burst flow too
Target pH is 7.40pH ( it was 7.20pH) and its staying within 0.03pH of that from lights on till CO2 off so very pleased with that😀. The DC is still light yellow, plus only takes 30mins to get to target pH know and it was taking about 50mins before. Also have the kessils on 100% intensity and spectrum during main photoperiod too which I did have a few weeks before fitting the Gyres too
The fish do seem to like the fast flow periods darting about in it when it comes on.
pH of tank before CO2 came on was always about 8.8pH before I had the gyres fitted. Just noticed today it was 8.90pH and DC a bit more Blue, so it appears to be degasing more at night too with the better Alternating flow/turnover.

 

[Edvet]

Have you noticed less deadspots/ less mulm? (thats why you do all the switching and bursting dont you?)

 

[Zeus.]

Have you noticed less deadspots/ less mulm?

Hard to say as the mulm tends to be all settled in the carpet and in the plants attached to wood eg the Anubis plus its only been a week, tend to see it most when I turkey blast the carpet and the plants attached to wood and rocks and I get great clouds of it.

thats why you do all the switching and bursting dont you?

Yes to help reduce the detritus build up, plus the bursting will give some flow in the deadest of deadspots I hope, to keep the nutrients is good supply to all the plants too.

 

[Ady34]

Great breakdown of the results. They look like excellent bits of kit and have improved the overall look and performance so win win.
Really nice looking tank

 

[DutchMuch]

zues this is going awesome! i havent checked in in a while and it looks fantastic! please keep up the great scaping!


But other than kind comments here is 1 piece of constructive criticism, more color! not red, i think red would stand out to much and re shape the whole scape. My vote, more yellows!!! 🙂.

 

[Zeus.]

My vote, more yellows!!!

Good idea I had a pot of red ready to go in so more red I'm afraid. After some more plants had a quick look but nothing has took my fancy except some Bolbitis with is dark green think it might look good at the wall end, dont think it likes hard water.

Trimmed the carpet last week one side this week the other, pulling out lots a stringy moss with AS attached, also had a area with Ricca moss doing well so used a fork to get it out of the carpet.



RCS still increasing in number so them so much

Pic of feeding fenzy with algae pellet, pre carpet trim


Sorry about the quality of the pics, but it does help hide all the faults

Clean the filter out this week, first time in four weeks it needed it think a month is too long at its present stage.

Also stopped using LCO as some of my Pogostemon helferi wasnt doing so well and I had pin holes in my Hygrophila pinnatifida which I have always had on older leaves which then melt and fall off, seeing if that helps although its less nutrition but I did have it at a highish level. Had it off for about four weeks. Still getting the pinholes but the P Helferi does seem to be doing better so cleaned it up a bit and replanted plus had some ready from pot tank

Maxspect gryres still spinning gave them a clean today





didnt take long at all

 

[Zeus.]

I have Buces flowing all the time in the tank and normally last about 24hrs but the Anubis doesnt flower that often think only had it once before


Could do with Nigel poping with his photo skills to do it justice🙄

Other chages this week are my change in use of the Chihiros doctor

Twinstar dont advise this as reported by Daveslaney here and a cant see a good reason why not myself as all it produces is O2 and H2, but I have noticed a bigger pH increase at night of about 0.5pH yet the time it takes to reach target pH recorded by the PLC remains unchanged 😵. See how it goes long term as tank is clearer without the micro bubbles I was getting from the mesh

Also been getting (or always got) pin holes in my H. pinn

So had a read around and came across an old thread at ASW Hygrophila pinnatifida issues and just like ShadowMac reported I get the pin holes and then melting in my big tank yet in another smaller tank the H Pinn is fine yet EI doses was the same.

 

[Zeus.]

Hygrophila pinnatifida still not looking it best so I had a look at my ferts again

I was dosing for some time



so the ppm weekly yields are in red and reducing the Micro amount to 80ml yielded an Fe of 0.58ppm

Do think I well overdose my ferts so cut back this week a little more as seeing a month had passed. reducing the Micro to a 50ml dose x3 and the Macro to 100ml x3 and see if that helps



Increased the KPO4 in the Macros a bit too. Thinking of reducing the Macro dose to 50ml too but have made that reduction in my potted tank and see how it goes in there with the Hygrophila pinnatifida

A quick side shot from chair


have taken the Chihiros doctor mesh out of the filter intake as I was getting lots of RCS in filter . AS for the Gyres well this week their wasnt as much detritus when I turkey Blasted the carpet and the tank cleared fastest yet and filter didnt seem to have as much detritus in the foam as last week

 

[Zeus.]

Been struggling with my Hygrophila pinnatifida for some time trying to work out whats wrong with my parameters. in the thread EI dosing please help and Hygrophila pinnatifida issue I think I (with the help of other folks inputs) stumbled across what one of the issue is, which is a obvious with hindsight Fe deficiency due to increasing pH of tank over time due to ADA AS losing its acid buffering capacity

pH of my tap water is 9.5 if left for 24hrs, pH of my tank water is 9.5 if also left 24hrs. Target pH for CO2 is 7.4. It use to be as high as 6.66pH at one time when first planted

I'm dosing EI ferts with Fe EDTA, which in Darrels handy table below shows at what pH Fe solubility range is in its various 'forms'


So ordered in the Trace ferts and FeDTPA and FeEDDHA as well. Thought I would use the FeEDDHA for 4-6 weeks as its solubility range is very wide 4-9.0pH in the stuff I got from Solufed. Se how/if the plants respond then I can always switch to FeDTPA Still awaiting some minor trace ferts which I wasnt going to wait for OFC so checked on Rotala Butterfly the dry salts to add to volume of tank and mixed it in RO water as two tanks to do and added to tanks as today is Micro day with my EI mix.