The Electric Reef Project (pic intensive!)

[overexposed]

More details coming later... wanted to get some pics on here before I'm too far into the project. Basically it's going to be a mostly DIY SPS tank. Got a 90g with stand, 30g sump, a skimmer, some rock, and a bunch of electronics.


Tank pics from Kijiji. 90g with 2x4 stand, $150 delivered.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/CE818411-A625-413C-BFEF-AF26C09A5080-10373-000003B5C22F6EF6.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/D8FF4610-197E-43C1-88A0-E2F516F6F714-10373-000003B5B3F55D03.jpg

In my kitchen, filling with water for a test and giving it a bit of a scrub down.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/ADA7A82B-9D6F-43B6-8D65-B828E14AAFE6-10373-000003B5D0527EFD.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/6BACDAD5-3EB1-47C9-8997-FDBC960D9BA4-10373-000003B5D646CAC5.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/6A204E48-E9EF-4719-825D-63D7F2FBF1A0-10373-000003B5DDAAC8A5.jpg

Arduino arrived! Never worked with a microcontroller before, but I am a programmer by trade with some hobby electronics background and have found it incredibly easy to work with.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/64F52B51-1F82-4BAB-83D1-9712780F6BBD-10373-000003B54209D6F1.jpg

Code shield, to help myself learn:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/F0BA2D5A-3C08-4824-96B0-BFD021CFC399-10373-000003B561263CF5.jpg

Light stuff! Got a big PSU (Meanwell SE-350-48) and a whack of LDD drivers (variating from 350, 500 and 1000). Also acquired the following for my LED fixture, which will have 6 dimmable channels (RB/NW/Violet/Cyan/Green/Red):
-2x 20" LED T-slot heatsinks from HeatsinkUSA (will be mounted on L bracket with each sink centered over a side of the tank, eventually planning a rail mount system similar to the Maxspect P series so that I can create cool shadow effects)
-19x Cree XTE RB/RB/NW 3up stars
-16x violets (6x 405nm, 10x 425nm)
-11x OCW
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/EAEF98C0-B294-4497-9C17-202044B382FC-10373-000003B58A49835A.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/6412FCAD-2483-4CEC-939C-B7A7657CD93E-10373-000003B69995AE5A.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/E8DB2B7A-258A-4793-B23A-A8D8DB0668B7-10373-000003B69F5D0955.jpg


More pics coming... maxed out this post.

[overexposed]

I kinda broke the bank on the next purchase... but I figure it's a good investment to have accurate measurement equipment on hand. Sure I could have built DIY probes for alot less, but I'm not sure I would have trusted them. And in case I do need to add more probes later, I can DIY them and use these as reference probes to ensure that my cheap ones are accurate.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/64A2744B-2571-4E64-A839-FF16D2612EDC-10373-000003BAC03779F9.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/852C9163-3212-4B6D-939D-505BB6BCE34E-10373-000003BAC91F7725.jpg

What will hopefully become an Arduino-controlled power bar:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/9A2BFDB3-5220-44DD-A332-157DE828EA22-10373-000003BACF8E592F.jpg

Testing some LED layouts:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/D2452001-540E-4D60-AD03-9553A47A5EC4-10373-000003BAD68156BD.jpg

Atlas Scientific stamps on a breadboard:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/CB027892-38B7-4905-B69A-4E248B647150-10861-000003D227104BD1.jpg

Free skimmer! Dirty as all get out, but that's ok, I've got no shortage of elbow grease lol. Took a bit of work for me to identify it, but it turned out to be a good one! (Or at least, an expensive one.) Deltec TS-1250. Before:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/CE91D76C-1039-4A7A-8EED-4D36515E7CDA-13918-000005746D752D5D.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/6B179764-3CF0-47F7-8766-28DA31B475D6-13918-0000057479B483A0.jpg

Parts in the drain board:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/A114F78F-BFC1-4579-9D95-75AF848A94C7-13918-000005748BE08F05.jpg

Full shot of it cleaned up:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/31FA1589-BC19-46AE-87C9-EB0FDFDBB5CF-22065-00000707ADC2266F.jpg

And lets see it in the sump:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/BF8E5A95-440B-4F87-9B17-A24E4A645464-21992-0000070714A34CB4.jpg

[overexposed]

Test fitting it under the stand. As soon as I saw this stand, I knew I would have to disassemble it and make some changes. Mainly, I need more height in the sump area. Secondly, it wracks like mad! I was using an algae scrubber to clean up the glass and noticed that the tank/stand would shift back and forth as I scrubbed the front.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/F44FF633-2932-4640-B2B6-7DB186096345-13918-0000057497B1F177.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/F15DEB63-D7C4-494C-AAFC-46B49762440A-13918-000005749E74E256.jpg


BRS order arrived - diamond hole-saw, drill guide, overflow box (with a broken corner...), plumbing bits:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/F328E38F-543F-49DB-A2D3-1D53DEF8BDA5-22065-00000707C3AB96C9.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/3AA4894E-DAA3-489D-BDFB-60D7217DF7F9-22065-00000707CCD75625.jpg


Got an 5" LCD TFT from Itead studios, loaded the calibration sketch: (I was up till about 1AM on Saturday night trying to get this to work! So much fun!)
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/80D6D3AC-2E23-4D4B-B66F-E2BB07A79E11-13918-00000574A3E21ED9.jpg


Fixed up the overflow box with some epoxy: (JB Weld)
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/F6D7F00D-006C-44F6-87B3-C7D74035693B-321-000000049C0B4A31.jpg


Draining the tank, placing the sump in a temp location. This is prep work for my stand modifications which I hope to perform this weekend!
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/6395B0BC-C7A8-419D-A65F-F56E6620282B-321-00000004AEE99A6F.jpg


Free liverock?!?!?!!!!! (I LOVE MY GIRLFRIEND! lol):
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/4FE446EA-F289-43A0-A94F-218078E4F3A3-321-00000004BD57F33D.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/93DE651E-5B48-4094-BED8-2195AB0ABCB4-321-00000004C3D1A4E7.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/90790EAA-A3BE-4D2F-8ABF-052A1EBEE2AF-321-00000004C95F5830.jpg

[overexposed]

Threw the rocks in my sump with the skimmer to see if I can make it foam! Also thinking it will help with curing them. Took a few shots of the rock from different angles... I really love some of the pieces I got!
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/BAD00F8E-8717-4B38-AA44-21F2F5FCD4AD-321-00000004FD5F18D6.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/8039BB0E-DCD3-4098-B240-C1028942A4F1-321-000000050C0CE4CA.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/BFA90F04-B3CB-4FAE-AC09-50B0CEAFE83D-321-00000005138E10C4.jpg

Houston, we have foam!!
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/F3BB7B50-254D-4F38-8568-0C3407464906-321-00000005199A467F.jpg

When this skimmer came to me, the bayonet collar which holds the skimmer cup in place was broken off, so I really wasn't sure if this thing was going to work. I fixed it with some JB Weld, and it seems like it's good to go! Foam is really wet, I can tell that I'm running this thing in too much water.

[CrazyEyes]

Looks like it's going to be a fun project man. Quick question, why did you go with regular outlets and not gfci's? Also, what arduino board is that, uno, mega etc? Might need to ask some questions later down the road regarding the arduino. I am planning on an arduino based diy controller in a couple months. Looks good though.

[overexposed]

I honestly haven't put much thought into the power outlets yet. Grabbed those as an impulse buy when at Home Hardware. Same with the relay board, grabbed it when I was buying a bunch of other parts. It's a 5v relay board so I don't even know if I'll be able to control mains outlets with it!

I have both an Arduino Due and a Mega 2650. I'm cobbling together various sketches, from Jarduino to Atlas Scientific provided code, to Nick's from here on the DIY Reef Controller thread. I really haven't made much progress there! Got sidetracked with actual tank stuff lol.

[sfsuphysics]

Well if he makes his power bar with a plug, and plugs that into a GFCI it'll be protected as such, granted if the GFCI goes your whole power bar goes, but presumably you won't have too many critical components on it (non-controllable return pumps for instance). That said I am curious as to how your power bar turns out.

[overexposed]

Equipment & cost list (will be keeping this post updated as more is acquired):

-90g display tank w/ shitty 2x4 stand ($150)
-30g sump ($30)
-BRS 2400 GPH 18" overflow box ($80)
-LEDs ($350)
-LED power supply ($105)
-LED drivers ($72)
-LED heatsinks ($200)
-Arduino/electronic bits and parts (~$300)
-Atlas Scientific kit ($550)
-Plumbing (~$215)
--4x 1 1/2" Schedule 80 bulkheads
--4x 1 1/2" Schedule 80 slip unions
--4x (should have been 8x... but there will always be more orders) 1 1/2" Schedule 80 45 degree elbows
--3x 1 1/2" Schedule 80 90 degree spigot elbows (beananimal overflow)
--1x 1 1/2" Schedule 80 45 degree spigot elbow (return)
--2x 1 1/2" BRS Economy Gate Valves
--1x 1/2” Schedule 80 female pipe adaptor (for return pump)
-Danner Supreme Magdrive 24 as return pump ($200)

-Deltec TS-1250 Protein Skimmer ($Free)
-X lbs liverock ($Free)


Tools:
-Algae Free "The Hammerhead" + easy blade ($80)
-65mm holesaw ($21)
-Drill guide ($40)



Still Planned:
-1 or 2 powerheads (Magnums or MP-40s)
-Heaters
-Rest of plumbing supplies (pipe, more 45s and unions)
-Lumber for canopy and stand



Total cost tally to date.... ~$2393

[SexyRob]

I wanna see how this controller turns out. I'm regretting not doing this from the start, I got a DA reefkeeper before I knew people where using ardruino

[overexposed]

This happened yesterday...

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/FAE240B8-8025-4559-9524-62680CB6ABA1-5642-000001C63DDB3921.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/240D20F5-F62F-4451-8CFA-2BE6045CFAA6-5642-000001C645AB7B32.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/A3B40401-4518-454F-91FC-57E87E84B466-5642-000001C64D72CA09.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/226816CF-1F73-4E01-980C-8B2FC865062E-5642-000001C65341FE2A.jpg

What kind of wonderful/terrible things have you learned from your parents over the years? I owe this one to my mom lol:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/609F4193-7A99-4DF8-B758-E3FC42A2325A-5642-000001C65BF545B8.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/362B288B-EB04-43E1-B000-E169781BB7BD-5642-000001C66E0FD4B7.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/E58631AB-8F28-4338-A6E3-E1AD40F7F236-5642-000001C6751E9A3B.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/C8831563-8B16-43B8-B9A0-5F42F1B42DE0-5642-000001C67F0D1B71.jpg

[overexposed]

223587223588223589223590

Getting ready to drill :D
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[WmTasker]

Great Build so far. I'm gonna have to keep an eye on how you get those relays and plugs to work.

[Wereami881]

Great project! I just picked up an Apex system (childs play to you lol) Waiting for my sump to be made then the apex get all hooked up. Good luck, keep the pictures coming!

PS Those "free live rocks" from your girlfriend and FAR from free! lol

[Lincutis]

digging it!

[overexposed]

Great Build so far. I'm gonna have to keep an eye on how you get those relays and plugs to work.

LOL everyone seems to be curious about that... myself included! :lolspin:
I actually just discovered the Reef Angel relay box the other day and am seriously considering going with that. $100 bucks and should save a lot of headaches struggling with wiring schematics. I would just need to get a serial cable and interface with it, from there it should be a small effort to create the communication interface for the Arduino and get the code working.

PS Those "free live rocks" from your girlfriend and FAR from free! lol

Oh hahaha I am aware!! They are some incredible pieces, and came from a fully established tank! She maintains aquariums for a living and got them from a tank she was tearing down, they were just going to get rid of them! Oh well, my gain :D.

digging it!

Thanks dude!


I partly drilled one hole last night, wanted to see how slow going it would be. The answer? Pretty damn slow!! I'll finish it sometime this week. Thanks for the interest and good words everyone, I'll make sure the pictures keep flowing.

[Wereami881]

Now where did you find a girl that does this for a living!?! lol I can't find one who doesnt complain I do it as a hobble! lol Well I guess being married limits my choices. Keep it coming!

[overexposed]

224046

[edman79]

Thanks for providing a price list. I like to know how much people have put into their tanks to gauge my prices. I've noticed a lot of people get really quiet on here when you start to talk cash. We all know this hobby is expensive. BTW, I like your rebuild of your stand. I think it looks much more rigid. Eddie Ed

[bigswordy]

where did you get the 45degree bulkheads???!?!?!?! want go get a couple for my sump/fuge build for the intake from tank to socks???

[overexposed]

Thanks for the words folks. I found people get quiet about prices too. I'm mainly keeping track of my prices for my own budgeting purposes, so that I can look at it when considering a new purchase and slap myself back into reality!

where did you get the 45degree bulkheads???!?!?!?! want go get a couple for my sump/fuge build for the intake from tank to socks???

Just regular bulkheads with a 45 degree spigot inserted into it. These specifically are what I ordered:

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/bulkhead-schedule-80-slip-x-thread-slip-on-the-flange-head-side-2.html
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/schedule-80-45-elbow-slip-x-spigot-street-1.html

[overexposed]

Bulkheads and overflow box installed, work on plumbing begun.

224330224331224332224333224334

[overexposed]

Received the last of my supplies for the LED array today. Once I'm done my plumbing effort (hopefully tonight or tomorrow) I'll be shifting my focus to the lights and canopy. Then the finishing touches on my stand, and finally the controller.


Equipment & cost list (will be keeping this post updated as more is acquired):
....

Total cost tally to date.... ~$2393

Thought I'd be able to edit this post and keep it up to date after the fact, but apparently RC has some restrictions on editing. So here's an update:
-Jebao WP-40 powerhead (~$115 CAD shipped)
-More plumbing stuff, tools, acrylic paint for background ($260)
-Danner Magdrive 24 ($200)

Bringing my total to just under $3000. Wow! And no livestock yet! But thankfully I *should* have most of the hardware purchases complete for now. The only thing left on my list of basic startup gear is heaters. Down the road I plan to add a few more things like an RO/DI system for ATO and and a calcium reactor, but that's phase 2... :D

[mkoop]

I wish I had half the ingenuity of some of the people doing projects I've seen around here. Very cool, great work.

[overexposed]

Update time! What's new:

-Plumbing rev1 completed. It competes with my dishwasher for noise but it works lol. Tried replacing the hard return plumbing with flex PVC and that helped a bit. I've also got a microbubble problem. Next step is I'm going to trade my pump in for the next model down, the magdrive 18. Hopefully this will further cut down on the noise and microbubbles. Also plan to install a foam prefilter on the pump.
-1 light fixture completely wired up and tested.
-Tank filled with saltwater and liverock moved in.
-Jebao WP-40 acquired and installed!
-Lights jerry rigged on top of glass top inside a tupperware bin.

Plumbing pictures...
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[overexposed]

Light pictures...
226387226388226389226390226391

I now know what people mean when they say that their camera doesn't do justice to their lights! These look very blue in pictures but are much more neutral and while in person.

[overexposed]

Another workbench pic and some different aquascapes.

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[overexposed]

Added today:
-Another 25 lbs of liverock, putting me ar approx 75 lbs
-Koralia 1150 for back corner
-Magdrive 18 swapped in for the 24. LFS let me just do a trade in. This change was awesome and now my overflow / return system is more quiet than my skimmer!
Aquired test kits today too and started a log.

But the most major purchase I think... fish! I picked up 2 blue eye cardinals and a green chromis. They were cheap and the lfs guy said rather hardy... So here it goes!

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[overexposed]

Acclimatizing the fishies via drip line:
226752

[overexposed]

Reworked my return plumbing again, the magdrive 18 has a smaller outlet than the 24, so I had temporarily placed the 1 inch female coupling over the 3/4 output of the pump. While this worked, I could feel that there was some leakage when I held my hand close to the outlet under water.

Now that I have that sealed up I'm getting a bit more flow, had to readjust the beananimal siphon to get back to silent.

I've also introduced my fish to the display tank! They immediately went into hiding, but after a bit the chromis came out and started parading back and forth across my tank! He seems to love the strong currents. The cardinals have been hiding wherever they can find shade and low flow. Before adjusting my WP-40 last night, they were hanging around the front right corner where I have a large rock, but now they've moved to somplace in the back. I haven't seen them today, but my girlfriend found them and assured me they are still alive!

[wilkerschnepf]

Awesome build! Will follow along, your build is almost identical to mine, but you complete projects at about 10 times my speed. Looks great so far, can't wait to see the progression.

[woganaga]

Atlas Scientific stamps on a breadboard:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/CB027892-38B7-4905-B69A-4E248B647150-10861-000003D227104BD1.jpg


Looks like you are making a lot of progress fast!

I noticed in this picture that without some isolation circuitry you might have some trouble getting consistent/accurate readings inside the aquarium. I am not familiar with the atlas sensors, but i don't recognize any isolation ic's on the board such as dc-dc converter, phototransitor, etc. I think you would want the power source galvanically isolated (separate wall wart or dc-dc transformer) and the sensor output to your microcontroller isolated as well (optocoupler/phototransistor/etc) or you (will probably) run into issues..

[overexposed]

Looks like you are making a lot of progress fast!

I noticed in this picture that without some isolation circuitry you might have some trouble getting consistent/accurate readings inside the aquarium. I am not familiar with the atlas sensors, but i don't recognize any isolation ic's on the board such as dc-dc converter, phototransitor, etc. I think you would want the power source galvanically isolated (separate wall wart or dc-dc transformer) and the sensor output to your microcontroller isolated as well (optocoupler/phototransistor/etc) or you (will probably) run into issues..

We shall see how accurate they are once I get it wired up! I've been busy with the tank itself the past week or so, and work, so I haven't touched the electronics part of this project in a while. But Atlas Scientific has stated that you should just be able to hook up these circuits as-is, so we shall see. Each sensor came with calibration solutions that will allow me to verify that they are working correctly.

----

Update time! This past week I've been spending a lot of time with my hands in the tank, trying out different aquascapes and flow patterns. My girlfriend gave me two corals out of one of her tanks that were close to dead, to see how they would react in my system. So far they seem to be doing better! One is an open brain, the other is a branching hammer. Both LPS, so I had a hard time finding a place where they would enjoy my flow.... which is what prompted all the playing! I think I've settled on an aquascape now, and the LPS seem to be getting the low/medium flow they need at the front of the tank close to the bottom.

[overexposed]

Kitty loves the tank:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/4F9ED4B0-1A77-4F79-B3E4-1ADF00153F89-9965-0000034E203B0D26.jpg

[overexposed]

Great haul today! Acclimatizing a bucket of coral now. Got a blue or green (tbd) mille and an encrusting montipora, possibly "ultraman" or rainbow, a branch of sour apple birdsnest plus a little piece of green monti cap.

Bucket of coral:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/4B251878-C144-4438-B3B9-2424376D2F31-434-000000066D559DA8.jpg

Also picked up some brine shrimp today to try feeding my LPS, heres a pic of the open brain coral after feeding:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/143BFF5D-42A1-41F2-B9ED-F4879A6CC0D3-434-00000007263A18B5.jpg
NOMNOMNOM lol

And the new coral pics:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/DD8B2261-7A4B-4091-BA96-C73FE905126B-434-0000000715D652A7.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/AECFC9E6-C604-420B-B4C6-2A34B6805256-434-000000071008B1DA.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/0EB37A88-B2A5-4C53-9CBF-0D828059E438-434-0000000B95DAE135.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/DC17FF6D-C230-4E02-AAF2-9610D6162418-434-0000000BB7F57B9B.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/9D173880-3842-4869-B07D-BD0831B26559-434-000000074839D9A0.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/8E9C89E3-FC30-434E-9442-85CAAFA04363-434-0000000B820B8D40.jpg

Feeding frenzy! Made a bit of a mess my first try with brine shrimp in a turkey baster lol.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/5611318E-0CDE-4771-A00B-7B03DFED0F82-434-000000072F14736C.jpg

[overexposed]

FTS
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/562A21C1-492A-4DAF-B1E4-239A95AF72DD-1484-000000BA7AF8969D.jpg

Monti's and birdsnest
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/A70D775D-189C-4600-9877-1DA63CB62843-1484-000000BA923685FC.jpg

Mille and hammer
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/15F87C86-C294-4A42-9DCC-ADD295ED9318-1484-000000BA9EE1C1A4.jpg

End shot
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/49846B02-F163-41E1-853D-835200132FBF-1484-000000BAA53B5105.jpg


Another birdsnest closup...
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/7F4DF88A-7AB6-479F-B342-D1B58E91274B-1484-000000BD31561C9E.jpg

[overexposed]

Updates:

-Installed a Vertex RX-U 1.5 reactor for GFO and carbon, brought my phosphates down from ~0.9 PPM to ~0.1 PPM
-Finished the second light fixture
-Hooked up a basic Arduino for some dimming (still no sunrise/sunset cycle)
-Added a blue tang, a cleaner wrasse and 2 ocellaris clowns
-Lost one of my cardinals
-Added 16 frags

Current livestock listing....

Fish:
-3x blue green chromis
-1x blue eyed cardinal
-1x blue streak cleaner wrasse
-1x blue regal tang
-2x ocellaris clown

Cleanup Crew:
-2x peppermint shrimp
-5x mexican turbo snails
-1x astrea turbo snail
-2x trochus snails
-8x little baby snails! (minimum - sat and counted all I could find one evening lol)

Corals Pre-Existing the GFO reactor:
-folded green/purple brain
-green hammer
-green monti cap (started as 1 frag but turned into three.... a lesson in delicacy!)
-purple/green millepora
-sour apple birdsnest
-ultraman montipora danae (has been experiencing tissue loss since a mexican turbo snail knocked it upside down while I was at work one day...)
-GSP

New corals (from London Fragfest):
-red monti cap
-sunset millepora
-green slimer yongi
-dark red zoa rock
-orange/purple/green acan
-aussie green branching duncan
-2x yellow/green & yellow/red combo zoa frags
-pink & green pocillopora
-two face frogspawn
-purple bonsai acro
-red m. digi
-red m. setosa
-incredible hulk acro
-lime green/blue a. echinata
-purple/green favia


I can now safely say that my tank is an SPS dominated mixed reef!


Pictures:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/79285FDB-6FE4-4B7E-904A-3B182EA96429-19166-0000010A6E45B8FD.jpg

Nice full cooler!
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/D5EBE05C-5680-481A-8A13-A80C11163683-98591-000005712FADE46B.jpg

Sunset mille
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/907B357D-5E74-492A-8339-4D60C1563F20-98591-0000056FEAFA8EF0.jpg

Red monti cap
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/595E6310-EA42-4BCA-B001-639046C2E895-98591-0000056FD95797C1.jpg

Aussie duncan
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/0FD1BFED-2BF6-4617-B339-1DE1A4197672-98591-000005700123D7F1.jpg

Favia
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/68A89C20-950F-443E-9DC4-16FE82E00D45-98591-0000057025B5E4FF.jpg

Yongi green slimer
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/667BC027-FFAD-4A96-9CE8-C26345966482-98591-000005702DD26588.jpg

Purple bonsai
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/0DB9AC5D-DE39-428A-AFA7-4A90AAE30E8D-98591-0000057036A1736A.jpg

[overexposed]

Red digi and red m. setosa
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/BC70EB7C-8669-4930-A442-36F415F69FF7-98591-000005703E6E56F3.jpg

incredible hulk acro
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/C24871AC-A31F-4793-9D32-DE1F84CB43CB-98591-000005707DFAB38E.jpg

Two face frogspawn
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/8D7768A7-07D8-4FDA-9E24-ACEC3651A10D-98591-000005709F411CA4.jpg

A. echinata
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/9CCFB0BD-2921-4558-B555-99801119FE6C-98591-00000570B2B1F855.jpg

Green/pink pocillipora
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/D4FD5C0C-880E-405A-8BCA-A50F2A9DC809-98591-00000570C44EB6F3.jpg

Assorted zoas
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/FDCB097C-047A-4751-B0C7-8BD14B7F1C80-98591-00000570D2F3ED06.jpg

Acan
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/781F4E74-80B3-48BB-8FD9-5F3A283598AD-98591-00000570ED10F11A.jpg

Updated FTS
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/philly1/Electric%20Reef/56F06A3A-6942-47EA-A00A-E71CC1E044FA-98591-0000057113ACE965.jpg

[Vancouver Reefr]

Looks good so far. I'll have to drop by if im ever in London. You will have fun with the Arduino's! Super configurable. Im just working on a code heavy reef controller V2.0

[tommer725]

Very nice, can't wait to see what you do with the controller.

[overexposed]

Very nice, can't wait to see what you do with the controller.

Thanks! I get that a lot! The controller aspect is what I got most excited about building, because of my programming/electronics background, but since getting the tank up and running it has honestly fallen by the wayside... too mesmerized by the glowing things in my tank lol ;). Development will pick up again soon though. I just started diving into more research the other day and planning pin layouts. I did the initial research back in February and collected all of the pieces, now I just need to sit down and plan the layout, figure out how to make it all work together. Looks like I'm going to be using a Due for the display and a mega for the I/O running as a slave via USB. Once I started mapping out my pins, I quickly realized how little 54 actually is... the 5" LCD eats up most of them. And both the Due and Mega only have 3 hardware serial ports available - I a total of 8 serial pins to accommodate the Atlas Scientific probes. Fortunately the Mega board supports a feature called "SoftwareSerial" that allows me to repurpose non-serial digital pins for serial communication.

Looks good so far. I'll have to drop by if im ever in London. You will have fun with the Arduino's! Super configurable. Im just working on a code heavy reef controller V2.0

Thanks for the kind words, you are welcome to pop over any time you happen to be in the city. Do you travel lots for work? As I have mentioned before I really enjoyed reading about your build and it was a big source of inspiration, good luck with version 2.0!

[Turbovr3six]

Have you checked to see if the sump can handle the backflow if the return pump were to ever fail? It looks like it would spill over.

[overexposed]

Ya its good I only keep it at around 1/3 full. When the return pump shuts down the backflow fills it most of the rest of the way.