Englishrebel's 260 Gallon System Build

[EnglishRebel]

Drew
What's with the plastic screw on cap on the end of the PH probe that appears to be filled with a liquid?

[WaterKeeper]

pH electrodes need to be kept damp for good response times. It doesn't hurt them to become dry but they need to soak a few hours before you can use them. Often they have an endcap, containing some pH buffer or KCl solution when shipped, to allow them to be used without waiting for them to soak.

[plyr58]

Just to add to WK's post. Remove the cap before placing in your system.

There was a post on the DA website where someone didn't know to do that. He tried to calibrate and evrything with the cap on and couldn't figure out why it wasn't working.

[wmilas]

If there is a thick white residue wash that off with some ro/di water also.

[EnglishRebel]

Thanks guys - I feel so dumb.

wmilas
Yes there is a white residue. I will wash it all off.

Tom
Should I calibrate it first?

Drew

[EnglishRebel]

Here's a quick update. My Reef Keeper Elite came in this week. Here's the complete package.



Here's the head unit temporarily installed in the equipment room. I've ordered a 20' bus cable so it can go next to the tank (which isn't here yet ).



I also ordered two Vortech powerheads.



Here is what you get in each box.



While I was in Lowes (my daily fix) I picked up some 3/4" fittings and made this.



Bet you can't imagine what it's for. Well the first time I mixed up a batch of salt, some of it just sat on the bottom of the tank and even though I have a circulation pump running it took too long to dissolve. After getting my arm wet up the elbow several times I made up this PVC PIPE & FITTING ASSEMBLAGE SALTWATER STIRRING FOR THE USE OF

I picked up a 24" base and 24" wall cabinet yesterday. Base cabinet is in and humidistat will have to be relocated as it will be behind the wall cabinet. That's called INSUFFICIENT PLANNING

Will post pictures later this week.

[wmilas]

Niiice bench top. Full bench dog setup and everything. Screw the rest of the stuff

Also, the stirrer really isn't necessary. To get ALL of the salt to dissolve have your reef keeper cycle the mixing pump on and off a few times a day. It takes my setup at least 3 days to dissolve EVERYTHING, including the while residue that can be left over. So give it 3-5 days to get a full mix. Expecting it to dissolve in 24 hours just isn't realistic. If you mix it by hand it suspends int eh liquid but doesn't completely dissolve and will start to settle out.

This is one of the things in reef keeping you really don't want to rush

[Chrisrush]

Good work on the salt stirrer. Now hook it up to a cordless drill so you don't have to manually stir it (might cause you to break a sweat, which we need to avoid at all costs, after all, this is a hobby).

[EnglishRebel]

Originally posted by wmilas
Niiice bench top. Full bench dog setup and everything. Screw the rest of the stuff

Also, the stirrer really isn't necessary. To get ALL of the salt to dissolve have your reef keeper cycle the mixing pump on and off a few times a day. It takes my setup at least 3 days to dissolve EVERYTHING, including the while residue that can be left over. So give it 3-5 days to get a full mix. Expecting it to dissolve in 24 hours just isn't realistic. If you mix it by hand it suspends int eh liquid but doesn't completely dissolve and will start to settle out.

This is one of the things in reef keeping you really don't want to rush

Ah didn't know that (I'm still learning stuff everyday). I don't have a module near the SW tank but I do have an index finger which can be programed to flick a switch once a day.
I guess I will have to wait a few days to check the final salinity then.

I made the bench and the top (first project) it sure gave my 15" planer a good workout -- that's hard maple. I really like the Oneida. I had a Delta dust collector (the one on wheels and a hanging bag) but the bag was useless. I bought the Oneida cyclone and 5 micron pleated filter, removed the Delta fan and bolted it upside down on the wall and attached the cyclone directly to the inlet, with the filter on the discharge. Works like a champ.

Originally posted by Chrisrush
Good work on the salt stirrer. Now hook it up to a cordless drill so you don't have to manually stir it (might cause you to break a sweat, which we need to avoid at all costs, after all, this is a hobby).

Now there's an idea. Or I could use a corded drill and plug it into the RKE power strip.

[GlassReef]

Lovin' that RKE. The UI is so much better than my ACIII. Oh, well - next time.

Let us know how you like the VorTechs - I wish my Tunzes were that small.

The work bench is very impressive - solid maple top!!! You must have gone through a couple sets of jointer and planer blades.

["Umm, fish?"]

Good luck with the finger programming. Those are some of the hardest ones to write....

[EnglishRebel]

Originally posted by GlassReef
Lovin' that RKE. The UI is so much better than my ACIII. Oh, well - next time.

I'm getting a replacement SID (system interface device) that hooks up the modules to the USB port on your computer for updates as mine is not working.

Originally posted by GlassReef
The work bench is very impressive - solid maple top!!! You must have gone through a couple sets of jointer and planer blades.

Actually it was made from 6/4 maple boards that I planed to 1" thick, ripped to 2" wide and edge glued together to form a 2" thick top. I glued up 12" wide sections that would fit in my 15" planer and then glued those together and then ran a belt sander over to clean it up. The cabinet is made from 2x8s and 2x6s planed to square up the edges and then dadoed for the plywood panels. The ends and sides are attached together with carriage bolts.
That is one heavy and sturdy bench.

[EnglishRebel]

Originally posted by "Umm, fish?"
Good luck with the finger programming. Those are some of the hardest ones to write....

Sorry Andy I'm not with you on this. What is finger programing or are you being funny?

[EnglishRebel]

Originally posted by EnglishRebel
Sorry Andy I'm not with you on this. What is finger programing or are you being funny?

OH, now I get it. Damn I'm slow this week. Must be the 15º temperature we had last night.

[wmilas]

15? Bah. It was 20 below here last night.. 57 below wind chill.

[EnglishRebel]

Originally posted by wmilas
15? Bah. It was 20 below here last night.. 57 below wind chill.

That's why I don't live up north. Our "real" winter is only from early January to beginning of March although it has been known to snow in early April. My wife had the opportunity once to tranfer to Sara Lee HQ in Chicago. I said bye bye (she didn't really want to go having grown up in Pittsburgh. )
I once spent an entire winter working in Holland MI -- BRRRRRRRR 35 below wind chill. People there actually looked forward to winter so they could go ice fishing and snowmobiling. Crazy idiots.

[EnglishRebel]

New Update.
I picked up a 24" wall and 24" base cabinet last week and installed them. Gives me lots of room for storing stuff that I don't have yet and also stuff I don't yet know I will need. More importantly it gives me a nice work surface where I can do my water tests or fresh water fish dips etc. I had to move the humidistat for the HRE (that will make GlassReef aka Tom happy as he will not have to turn his monitor on its side to see it properly).





Here is the RKE outlet modules installed on the "wet wall". The left hand one controls the light on the refugium (power and fan transformer). The right hand one will control the skimmer pump, main pump, and the feed to the Aqua Logic dual stage temperature controller to turn it off if the water temperature gets above 84º (the controllers setpoint is 81º). The SL1 module has the temperature and PH probes connected and provision for two switched inputs as well as an ORP probe. I am working on two level probes for the sump. One will turn the skimmer pump off if that compartment gets too low and the other will turn the main pump (and skimmer pump) off if the water level gets too low. The RKE will also allow me to have an alarm for any of these level conditions. I am not going to rely on float switches as they can stick. I have a very good friend who owns a control system company who is going to help me out with these probes. The RKE switched connections outputs about 5V but you cannot connect any device that will input voltage to the two connections. I am looking at one of these probes Honeywell probe It has an LED and a photo transistor inside a transparent plastic dome. When no liquid covers the dome the light from the LED is internally reflected from the dome to the photo transistor. When liquid covers the dome the effective light refraction at the dome/water boundary changes and some light escapes. The photo transistor detects this as switches the output. It's pretty much foolproof. I will let you know how it works out.




These are the probes in the sump. From left to right, dual stage temperature controller probe, RKE temperature probe, and the RKE PH probe. This leaves me one for either an ORP probe or a salinity probe (Digital Aquatics is bringing one out with their new SL2 module that will have provision for temperature, salinity, PH and two switches). I may get the SL2 and put it upstairs so I can include a level switch on the overflow box to turn off the pump if it gets close to overflowing on the floor. I can also add the salinity probe there, allowing me to add the ORP probe in the sump.



I now have cured LR in the refugium and last week I got some Eco Rox from BRS (I wanted some of their Pukani but JRF beat me to the last batch (thanks Jeff ). Here's a full tank shot (boy did I get to say Full Tank Shot for the first time! and I don't have my tank yet.



I get sand this week so the Eco Rox will go in the refugium together with some of the LR. When the skimmer gasket and venturi get here on Tuesday I can check the skimmer out and then drain the sump, fill it and the refugium with SW, and fire up the system (the supply to the DT is looped to the return upstairs).

More later.

[GlassReef]

Man 'o man, Alan. I wish I had half your energy! You must be working around the clock to get so much done. And such great work, too! You've reached a level of "a-retentiveness" almost matching mine.

Seriously, everything looks very well planned out and carefully executed. I love that probe section in your sump - I still haven't figured out what I gonna do. The Honeywell LLS is intriguing - looks like a perfect solution for SFS (stuck float syndrome ) Glad to see you finally saw the light re the humidistat.

That's a cool testing table. How accurate is the digital scale? I was looking for one, but they were all so expensive. I finally bought an "analog" made by Mettler on eBay for $20. It's accurate to 1/100 of a gram, but has one problem - it's about the size of two shoe boxes stacked one atop the other and weighs 20lbs.

[EnglishRebel]

Originally posted by GlassReef
Man 'o man, Alan. I wish I had half your energy! You must be working around the clock to get so much done. And such great work, too! You've reached a level of "a-retentiveness" almost matching mine.

Seriously, everything looks very well planned out and carefully executed. I love that probe section in your sump - I still haven't figured out what I gonna do. The Honeywell LLS is intriguing - looks like a perfect solution for SFS (stuck float syndrome ) Glad to see you finally saw the light re the humidistat.

That's a cool testing table. How accurate is the digital scale? I was looking for one, but they were all so expensive. I finally bought an "analog" made by Mettler on eBay for $20. It's accurate to 1/100 of a gram, but has one problem - it's about the size of two shoe boxes stacked one atop the other and weighs 20lbs.

Thanks Tom.
I too am "Enjoying My Free Time" so I have to stay busy. To be honest I have only done a few things this week -- relocating that humidistat, installing the cabinets, and hooking up the RKE. I do spend a little bit of time looking at my LR
The scale is this one Scale it's accurate to 0.1 oz and weighs up to 13 lb. It was $29.95. I did by the optional transformer but to be honest I don't think it's necessary. I bought it to weigh salt as the last time I mixed salt, I had to borrow a kitchen scale from my neighbor but it only weighed 16 oz at a time.

[plyr58]

Alan, do you have a link to the fan and humistat that you used?

[edandsandy]

Alan,
Is this your AC unit?



BTW, I agree with Tom, you are almost done with the room!
are you doing all the work yourself?

[EnglishRebel]

Originally posted by plyr58
Alan, do you have a link to the fan and humistat that you used?

Drew
Here's the links: Humidistat Heat Recovery Ventilator

Originally posted by edandsandy


Alan,
Is this your AC unit?BTW, I agree with Tom, you are almost done with the room!
are you doing all the work yourself?

Sandy
It's a Heat Recovery Ventilator not an A/C unit. See the link above in the reply to Drew. Yes the room is done. All I have to do is test the skimmer and the plumbing is done (downstairs anyway ) I did all the work myself. The only help I had was putting up full sheets of FRP. That stuff is awkward and with construction adhesive you have to be fast as it skims over quickly and loses it's adhesive strength.

[wmilas]

I too envy your free time. I have more fishroom projects than I can count left to do and no time to do them

[edandsandy]

Alan,
Is it an exhaust fan? (sorry for not understanding )

I'm impressed that you did all the work yourself.
We hired a contractor to do ours, Ed is finishing all the little things in the room, however there not so little!
When you mentioned the FRP board we completely understand how awkward that stuff was to install, all the cut outs and what nots, then I came up with the brilliant idea of putting that stuff up on the ceiling, YIKES!!!!
6 pieces went on the ceiling, it took over 12 hours to do.
good thing the contractor owed me a favor!

[EnglishRebel]

Originally posted by wmilas
I too envy your free time. I have more fishroom projects than I can count left to do and no time to do them

wmilas
It's nice to be retired but I do miss the paychecks.

Originally posted by edandsandy
Alan,
Is it an exhaust fan? (sorry for not understanding )

I'm impressed that you did all the work yourself.
We hired a contractor to do ours, Ed is finishing all the little things in the room, however there not so little!
When you mentioned the FRP board we completely understand how awkward that stuff was to install, all the cut outs and what nots, then I came up with the brilliant idea of putting that stuff up on the ceiling, YIKES!!!!
6 pieces went on the ceiling, it took over 12 hours to do.
good thing the contractor owed me a favor!

Sandy
It's a fancy exhaust fan. What it does is remove air from the room but before it discharges it outside it is blown across a heat exchanger (sort of like a car radiator except that there is air on both sides). The fresh air from outside is blown across the other side of the heat exchanger and in doing so it picks up the heat (or cold) of the air being exhausted hence the name heat (or cold) RECOVERY ventilator.
Hope that explains it. If you look at this photo of the inside of the unit you can see the heat exchanger (it's the diamond shaped box in the middle).



The advantage of this over a simple exhaust fan, is that you don't have to heat (or cool) the replacement air that is needed. Although it's not 100% efficient it does save some money. In Florida in the middle of summer if you want to remove the humidity from the room it helps recover some of the cooler air you are exhausting.