Week 4: Planning a Safer Tank with Redundancy | 52 Weeks of Reefing

It's Week 4 of 52 Weeks of Reefing, and this week we are sharing a few tips on the single most important topic related to maintaining a reef aquarium long-term; redundancy.
#BRS160
We are going to cover the top ten major systems your reef ecosystem relies on in order of the most common equipment failures and most likely to cause catastrophic consequences. We will go over why they are issues as well as present some solutions.
For our purposes redundancy means both back up systems and equipment but also safety fail-safes such as shut off’s, alarms, and notifications. Most of us tend to live in a world where we just expect things to work and often have a misguided impression that it will work indefinitely or when it fails there will be limited impact that we can deal with when it does fail.
This episode is really about brainstorming all the things we need to consider and looking at the options for planning a tank like this. We will show the actual installation of our redundancy solutions when we install the equipment in future weeks.
Legal Stuff
The purpose and content of this video is to provide general information regarding the products and their applications as presented in the video. Aquatic sales solutions, inc. And its officers, directors, employees and agents disclaim all express or implied warranties, in any way, related to the products and their application as presented in this video, make no representation or warranty regarding the products and the application as presented in this video and shall not be liable for any direct or indirect losses or damages of any type, including but not limited to punitive damages, or from personal injury or death resulting from or in any manner related to the video, and the products in and contents of the video. The viewer expressly agrees that aquatic sales solutions, inc. And its officers, directors, employees and agents shall not be liable for any damages or losses related to the products in and content of the video and hereby agrees to hold the foregoing harmless from any such losses or damages.

[@chamathke]

The attention to detail and lack of bias is stunning. A beautiful example of quality KZbin content

[@reeferboy3278]

Can't even tell you how much this video stresses me out.. I watched it last night and had a nightmare that all of the things we are trying to prevent, happened in one night to my tank.. I woke up screaming

[@izshocker1]

Now this is the series I've been looking for. Can't wait for the controller part.

[@JustAPuffin]

My first ever adventure into saltwater saw my heater get stuck. I was maybe 12-14 at the time. went to school and everything was fine. Got home and the whole house stank. my poor dwarf puffers were cooked. Given my lack of education on the subject at the time it's honestly surprising they died from a mechanical malfunction rather than my ignorance. I was definitely in over my head and didn't even know it.

[@millarcd]

For a moderately extended power outage, i successfully kept my 16 gallon aquarium oxygenated and alive using a fish saver brand bait pump from a tackle shop for $25 hooked to a fully charged car battery i removed and brought inside my house. Just suction cup the pump to the side, adjust spout to tank level, and attach the clamps to the battery. My battery lasted 3 days before i changes to another battery and was the pump honestly overkill for my small tank, would have easily done a 25-30 gallon tank. Just another cheap option for those who live in hurricane zones and have a small relatively simple nano reef and dont like spending mucho dolares.

[@TheTanman2011]

That generator advice if awful. Buy one in advance! Do not wait until you need it. Here in Bellevue, WA the power rarely goes out but if it does you will have no chance of finding one for weeks at the minimum if not months. I lost mine for two days this week and was so happy to have my generator. The peace of mind and luxury of having a generator is well worth it.

[@Stribers92]

Hi there, fantastic reefing series. I live in the UK but really appreciate the wealth of advise available from BRS.

[@stevenbrogdon3074]

Ryan I want to thank you for all the work and effort that is going into this new series. I only wish that I had this when I first started reefing.

[@potvinc2]

Great in depth video on a subject I hadn't really given much thought to as a new reefer. Definitely will be using this advice to inform some of the decisions I'll be making as I start looking at setting up my first tank! Awesome videos. Can't wait for the next one!

[@joeyd879]

Amazing videos as ever guys. Have to say the term is "contingency" not "redundancy" though. Redundancy would be putting superfluous measures in place that don't help anything!

[@MACNTOSFAM]

I feel like BRS just really introduces & advertises products as well as theirs... A lot of what they talk about, seems to apply to the experienced reefers etc.

[@Redvahido]

amazing! very informative! [more than usual] :D

[@rickhairr9604]

A good way to solve the heater overheating problem is use 3 small heaters (equally sized). 1 runs pretty much continuously(79-80)... 1 runs as a backup(78-80) ... 1 runs as emergency (77-80) this will do two things... alert you when the tank is getting cold. but more importantly.. if one does stick on.. its ok.. because the tank is basically designed to have one always on. getting them sized right will take some trial and error.. This works well to solve both problems of one breaking (emergency heaters is on alert) and one sticking on (alerted that the wrong one is running all the time). Good luck!

[@GrayEmbry]

Just FYI: The company that made the ReefKeeeper controller is not long in business, and no long supporting the product, even if you could still find one somewhere.

[@gabbydube5757]

definitely one of the best reefers out their my dad says "he is not a reefer he is THE reefer"

[@ElementL116]

Another option which you alluded to a bit for top off is salinity monitoring/controlling. I have a Profilux controller (a bit pricer than most admittedly) which has a conductance electrode. You can infer salinity from conductance. I use this capability to switch on a dosing pump which tops off the tank. It's been working great for the last 6 years. Just be sure to stay on top of the conductance electrode calibrations... every 6 months is generally good as they will drift a bit. Dosing rate is very slow so it's difficult to affect big changes should the pump stick on for some reason. As for controller redundancy, I also like the Seneye. It's relatively cheap and will provide pH, NH3 and Temp all through your smartphone anywhere. It recently saved me from making a long trip back home. I had a power surge on Christmas Eve which took the Profilux controller offline. It would not reboot. This happened just as we were off to see family of course so I had to switch lighting and pumps to manual mode. I was most concerned about temperature despite having a lot of water volume ~500g and a conditioned fishroom. Fortunately, I was able to watch temp on my iPhone thanks to the Seneye and it only moved half a deg C while I was gone. The Profilux magically rebooted when I got home for the night. So while the chance of a controller going down is low, this proves it does happen and it is wise to have some form of back-up! Personally, I could not sleep at night without a generator. I've had to use mine twice in 6 years due to unexpected power outages. There are a couple good inexpensive options available through Harbor Freight. Just be sure to run them every 3 months or so as the carbs gum up/gaskets dry out and leak.

[@83K5Blazer]

Reminds me, I need to take advantage of these features on my Apex Jr. Another great video guys!

[@jeremyrohn7308]

Haha O to be the employee that got to play the part of "Ah shocked i got an emergency text message" lol

[@samiam9059]

One safe thing you can do with the central controllers. Use heaters with thermostats. If the controller has a problem turning off the high limit you can set that on the heaters and will save you. Also after YEARS of using plain heater elements. They just do not last, but many thermostat heaters do. Some have life warranty for very little money. I use two on my tank driven off the ReefKeeper lite.

[@huntergossett4281]

I have a 1 1/2 inch PVC pipe at the top of my tank (with a filter to prevent fish from getting through) which is normally about 4 inches above water level, and if the water level gets too high it will drain through the pipe into my basement sump pump. Which then gets pumped out of the house.

[@shawnriv9]

Great video series! I am really looking forward to next week's "plumbing" episode since I feel that's my weakest area. I also look forward to seeing what type of lighting you choose (T5 or LED - I haven't had much luck with my Kessil 360 in terms of growth) and seeing that tank get wet! :)

[@maribeltorres2922]

I love your show. I've learned a lot with saltwater, it's just so incredible I thought it was going to be easy and I'm learning that it's going to be a little difficult than what I expected I am a first-time saltwater reef, but I'm learning as I go. I have a 10 gallon tank for a beginner like me. Now I'm just going for the 20 gallon instead. wish me luck. I'm sticking with you all the way

[@maribeltorres2922]

Will do

[@grumpbert]

Thanks guys! :D

[@natecordell]

Yup thAnk you

[@chrisopherbove6237]

My house has a whole house generator that is like a small car engine that runs off propane and I’ll definitely be setting up my new aquarium on an circuit that is powered when the generator is running during a power outage. I live in Florida and we have had power out for over 2 weeks before during bad hurricanes and sometimes even during thunderstorms the power goes out for a little while and from what I am learning corals and reef tanks are super super finicky and sensitive. Hopefully that doesn’t happen again but it’s a possibility and that’s one thing I won’t need to worry about.

[@TheRealRognin]

Fluval E-series heaters have the highest warranty in the industry for a reason. I'd look into them as a viable alternative in your store.

[@TheKendrickJ]

i didnt even know there was battery air pumps that detect power outages. thanks alot im gunna search for them now :)

[@renman303]

Far and away, your site is the most informative and cordial when responding to questions! Bought from you many times and I'll continue to be a customer. Great site! I do have two questions: 1. I have a fan overhead keeping my 225 (24x29x72) at a constant temp. I also have this tank plumbed through my wall to my garage where the sump is located. It is a 55L. Being in the garage, I have it completely surrounded by Pink insulating foam board. Would I be better ok with moving the fan from the aquarium to the sump to achieve the same cooling? 2. I have two Eheim 1262's as return pumps. Both are operating all of the time. Should I consider only using one and using the other as a backup?

[@nuur2825]

I had a 100g tank with my dad as a kid and a week long power outage killed our tank. We never restarted it afterwards and now I'm worried about that happening to me if I start a new tank in a few years like I'm planning. Gotta get a small generator.

[@AndreasC23]

I guess that's one bonus to living on the other side of the pond... No blackouts! Sounds scary as all hell to go through that with multiple tanks about the house. I get terrified when the mains short out and I lose power for 5 minutes!

[@robertmoshier9789]

Andreas Chryseliou you don't get blackouts or lose power over there? how is that possible?

[@andeyking]

Robert Moshier Our power cables run underground so trees falling over/wind/lightening won't knock down power cables. We do get power-cuts but in the last 15 years my household has had 1 and that was for less than an hour.. We loose household power from the circuits tripping in my house from faulty electronics but very rare and that's for less than 1 minute.

[@bradsimpson8724]

​@@robertmoshier9789 The American power grid is very cheaply built compared to the rest of the developed world. I'm an electrician for a company that does service on specialized equipment internationally, and I'm continually amazed at how cheaply-built commercial and industrial electrical systems are in the US compared to any other first-world country I've visited. A friend of mine, a power linesman, regularly goes down to the US as "reinforcements" following major storm systems, and he has a lot of similar observations. The extended-period blackouts that you guys suffer from are largely unknown in the rest of the developed world.

[@dustinhodge3216]

Wish you would have mentioned the reefkeepers' upgradability via adding on modules or even the reefkeeper elite or now archon

[@N1ceDrgn]

I've had a heater malfunction and nuke my tank. That is why I still do not use a heater on my tank since that incident. I learned that high quality heaters can force you to experience the same type of problems a cheap and inexpensive one will.

[@N1ceDrgn]

I did have a heater and a controller by Finnex I believe was the brand name. When it failed, it heated my tank to 92F and a near complete loss of life happened. That set me back to a point I've never recovered from. The live stock I had, I haven't seen since that time. So, to this day, I've gone without a heater and relied on ambient heat plus heat from the MH bulbs I use.

[@N1ceDrgn]

This was a individual controller and heater setup. The controller was kept outside and away from the tank while the heater, connected by leads, was used in my sump. The temperature the heater was meant to maintain was manually programmed into the controller.

[@bernienufc3166]

Great videos as always thank you for these. Can you you help with a link to more information about the poor reasons behind the inverters used in the UPS's for PC's, i would like to understand this with my electrician friend as we were really shocked but have found by accident its true :-)

[@FFKiwi1]

hey there! where do you have your Kh and Calcium dripping into on the 160?

[@PastorSZ_Author]

2:45 I keep a thermometer in my tank and check it often.

[@protocolsavage8506]

the one thing he missed in literally all 52 episodes. Thermometers!! xD

[@Kalashnikov444]

I had my saltwater tank now for about a month and the water is still really murky and cloudy I did research to see what can I do to remove it but I didn't get a lot of suggestions. My filters are used are used and I have one filter on each side of my 75 gallon tank. Any suggestions for clearing the murky water? Thanks if you do manage to respond.

[@shechshire]

What do you guys think of the hydor? I'm setting up a new 10 gallon nano and had a bad experience with hydor. The thing would always over heat. I would have to to set to a much much lower temp than what I would want it to heat to. Can you give me a recommendation for one that DOES get the temp right?

[@deemaster1000]

Whats the best 300w heater ? Thanks

[@BrianShimkus]

Is it safe to use vinegar to clean aquarium heaters?

[@natecordell]

what kind of fish is that at 0:53 at the top middle of the screen?

[@_anthonyisafish_2100]

7:06 do you still have that product?

[@raeesusman2026]

How do you get montipora capricornus to grow in a curl like at 1:05?

[@raeesusman2026]

BulkReefSupplyCom Oh cool, thanks. :)

[@theamjadjamousable]

why don't you guys ship to Europe ? i want the eclipse overflow , i can't find it anywhere over here . even amazon and e bay .

[@BRStv]

We're not ready to expand our shipping outside of the US and Canada quite yet, but if you use a mail forwarding service, you can still order from our website. Details on that at the link below. www.bulkreefsupply.com/international-shipping

[@seove1]

It turns out that I have redundancy by accident. Part of my spray bar faces the overflow.

[@raeesusman2026]

Can you run a battery backup on the hydor korailla 3rd gen power heads? If not what's another option other than airstones?

[@raeesusman2026]

BulkReefSupplyCom How would I do it because it is an AC pump? What kind of battery do I need?

[@natalierapppuhn3078]

Raees Usman no idea what your talking about

[@jakebandaruk9394]

really good video, but now im scared

[@girishpatil7201]

I had reef feet tank home brown alage prblm irreted me i run phosgurd in mess bags 250 gm in sump still not seen any recovery in my tank plz help me out

[@girishpatil7201]

Same ware around 2.0 ppm

[@juvilalviar4239]

why dont you ship to Philippines?

[@johnnyweeks1971]

He keeps saying it's easy , easy for you maybe 😆

[@andrewhales9771]

I need BRS stickers!! you guys said by the end of the month! =)

[@girishpatil7201]

do u have ship in india ?

[@RoboNarples-et6ky]

Sadly they do not (I think)

[@19Brenni75]

buy Eheim heaters are superior

[@Okinawa-do5il]

this souds so them expensive

[@LSD4CHAIN8AW]

I need money! Lol

[@destryx]

First!!!

[@dreideldreideldreidel]

destryx gay

[@destryx]

Hate us cuz you aint us