drummereef's 180g in-wall build

[Greenmaster]

If I had your tank I would be adding 1-2 fish a week till I had them over...(that might get me into trouble) but I would also be watching the tests to make sure everything stays stable. Are you going to seed some coraline algae? Or put any live rock in there?

[drummereef]

Originally Posted by Greenmaster

If I had your tank I would be adding 1-2 fish a week till I had them over...(that might get me into trouble) but I would also be watching the tests to make sure everything stays stable. Are you going to seed some coraline algae? Or put any live rock in there?

I'm still getting used to ONE fish. Haha. I'll probably add a few snails and a couple shrimp here pretty soon. I'm still testing to see what the water quality is like and probably need to do a water change soon as well. I know I want a few Anthias just don't know which ones yet. My LFS had some pretty orange anthias but I might want to do a purple Lyretail or something. I think the purple would look nice against the yellow tang.

[drummereef]

On another note, have a few goodies coming tomorrow. Apex Lite System and a Tiger Shark Algae Magnet.

Tonight I'm getting the supplies to finish the dedicated outlets needed to finish the conduit project so I should have the controller running in some form by the weekend. My main concern is getting my heaters controlled asap.

I want to "sleeve" the stranded wires as they come out of the conduit and up to the plugs. I'm considering getting some sleeving from McMaster-Carr. Each group of 3 wires (hot/neutral/ground) will be sleeved just like what an extension cord looks like, for a total of 9 plugs. Here's the two choices I saw that might work and are about the same price.

A - Vinyl Coated sleeve made of braided fiberglass coated in vinyl

B - Flexible PVC chemical resistant sleeve

I can't link to McMaster-Carr because their links only go to the main page. Thoughts?

[saltwater_fish]

Very Good Work!!!!

[dancewithethan]

Hi Brett

I love your built, and learned much from it.

Question, I did the same RO/DI pluming as your for the ATO system, however, once my float switch turned off, the Auto Shot Off unit on the RO/DI turned the water off as it should, and will not turn back on. any suggestions what went wrong?

My RO/DI is the 300 GPD from Bulk Reef Supply
and my float switch is Level-Loc auto top off unit.

Thanks

Ethan

[drummereef]

Originally Posted by saltwater_fish

Very Good Work!!!!

Thanks saltwater_fish.

[drummereef]

Originally Posted by dancewithethan

Hi Brett

I love your built, and learned much from it.

Question, I did the same RO/DI pluming as your for the ATO system, however, once my float switch turned off, the Auto Shot Off unit on the RO/DI turned the water off as it should, and will not turn back on. any suggestions what went wrong?

My RO/DI is the 300 GPD from Bulk Reef Supply
and my float switch is Level-Loc auto top off unit.

Thanks

Ethan

Thanks Ethan.

Maybe some other people can chime in here but what pressure are you running your RO/DI? I don't know a lot about those valves other than they should work... But, I would presume the pressure is too low or it's a faulty valve. Perhaps there was enough suction/back pressure when the float valve closed to keep the shut off valve closed or something?

[prop-frags]

You'll be happy with the Apex - we included one in our build and it is a very nice improvement over the ACJr. We wanted the extra probe port and the variable voltage ports so went with the Apex Sr.

As far as the tang, the only concern there is that yellows can be aggressive and adding him first to become "king of the tank" may make it hard on others.

[dancewithethan]

Brett
thank you for your quick reply. RODI runs above 80s psi, but I think I know what cause the water to stop. the Level-loc auto top off unit has solenoid build in as a safety measure. once the float switch on the solenoid in the off position, it prevented the water from the RODI to flow. however, when water in the tank drops, somehow the solenoid still in the off position. maybe I have to tweak the float valve to make it work right?

[gradth]

Tank is looking good Brett. I remember when my Marco was still white. Looks so pristine. Mine is think with purple now.

The yellow tang does look good in there though. Wish I had room for one. We need more pictures though.

[drummereef]

Originally Posted by prop-frags

You'll be happy with the Apex - we included one in our build and it is a very nice improvement over the ACJr. We wanted the extra probe port and the variable voltage ports so went with the Apex Sr.

As far as the tang, the only concern there is that yellows can be aggressive and adding him first to become "king of the tank" may make it hard on others.

Great, can't wait to get it set up and working. I thought about that with my tang but I had limited life left in my 40g so I was under the gun to move him over to his new home. He's always been rather shy so maybe that will help when I introduce some new friend. Anything can happen though...

Originally Posted by dancewithethan

Brett
thank you for your quick reply. RODI runs above 80s psi, but I think I know what cause the water to stop. the Level-loc auto top off unit has solenoid build in as a safety measure. once the float switch on the solenoid in the off position, it prevented the water from the RODI to flow. however, when water in the tank drops, somehow the solenoid still in the off position. maybe I have to tweak the float valve to make it work right?

Gotcha, sounds like the solenoid is the issue then. Glad you have at least narrowed down the possibilities.

Originally Posted by gradth

Tank is looking good Brett. I remember when my Marco was still white. Looks so pristine. Mine is think with purple now.

The yellow tang does look good in there though. Wish I had room for one. We need more pictures though.

Thanks gradth. I'll post some more pics soon.

[j-dizzle]

its been a couple weeks. sweet video on the fish room brett and congrats on the cycle!!! that tang needs some buddies for sure! question about your skimmer are you getting any skimate yet or just bubbles below the collection cup?

[drummereef]

Originally Posted by j-dizzle

its been a couple weeks. sweet video on the fish room brett and congrats on the cycle!!! that tang needs some buddies for sure! question about your skimmer are you getting any skimate yet or just bubbles below the collection cup?

Hey Jesse, thanks for posting. I am getting skimmate but it's really wet and clear to light brown. It's inconsistent though... some days there will be some in the cup and others it will just bubble up the neck. It's definitely picking stuff up, like today I found pieces of Nori crawling up the neck after I fed the tang. I've raised the skimmer about as high as it will go but I'm limited vertically because of a support brace in the stand. The skimmer is sitting in 8" of water currently. I'm hoping as the bio load increases the skimmate will settle in and thicken up naturally. I know other guys like sjm817 have good luck with this skimmer in the same water depth even though it's a little on the deep side. Right now the bio load is extremely low so no doubt that has a lot to do with the production.

[drummereef]

UPDATE:


Added a couple things to the fish room.

I haven't done a water change yet so I needed a temporary mixing station. I went with a 32g Brute container. Later as the water station progresses I plan on getting some food grade graduated containers for a more permanent solution. I figured I could at least use the Brute as a trash can later. The gallon jugs sitting next to the Brute are Randy's DIY 2-part.





I'm picking up a float valve today which I will install into the Brute so forgetful here doesn't have to worry about leaving with the RO/DI running. Right now I have a Koralia 3 for mixing and I'll put a heater in there too.





I Tee'd off the line going to the top off reservoir to fill the Brute.





Also ran 2 - 20 amp dedicated circuits to the sump room. This will allow me to have the lighting on one circuit and the rest of the equipment on the other, all controlled by the Apex. There will be a few things plugged into the wall but those items won't be controlled via the Apex.





Also picked up a Tiger Shark magnet cleaner made by Algae Free. Wow, these are some strong magnets! Well worth the price.





Here's a little tip, I use a micro fiber cloth to buff the outside of the glass while the magnet cleaner takes care of the inside. It also allows me to adjust the strength as necessary by adding / removing the extra folds in the micro fiber cloth.

[psteeleb]

looking good Brett
nice and clean

[tegee]

I was going to recommend the Hammerhead over the Tiger magnet.....lol. I believe the Tiger is meant for a 3/4" but I could be wrong. The Hammerhead on my 180-gl is soooo strong too. I use an extra felt pad to adjust strength, but the microfiber towel trick sound great. I'll give it a try.

BTW: keep up the great work and can't wait to begin sticking it.

Tony

[henrystyle]

good idea on the micro cloth. Those magnets lightly scratch your glass over time. Thats what I used to do....
If you don't mind putting your hands in the tank, Mr.Clean original Magic erasers work excellent for cleaning glass or acrylic tanks. No scratches, no chemicals. I will never use a magnet again....Magic for real!
(original only)
Get a kent algae scrapper for the hard coraline and you will be good.

[drummereef]

Originally Posted by psteeleb

looking good Brett
nice and clean

Thanks P and don't be a stranger.

Originally Posted by tegee

I was going to recommend the Hammerhead over the Tiger magnet.....lol. I believe the Tiger is meant for a 3/4" but I could be wrong. The Hammerhead on my 180-gl is soooo strong too. I use an extra felt pad to adjust strength, but the microfiber towel trick sound great. I'll give it a try.

BTW: keep up the great work and can't wait to begin sticking it.

Tony

Thanks Tony! Jeremy B at Premium Aquatics recommended the Tiger Shark on 1/2" glass. He said over time if you get a buildup of coralline on the glass the Tiger does a slightly better job getting the stubborn stuff off. It's REALLY strong without the microfiber cloth though. I tried it without anything in between and was a little scary. I don't have any coralline at this point though. We'll see how it does as the coralline comes in. Hopefully just on the rocks... haha

Originally Posted by henrystyle

good idea on the micro cloth. Those magnets lightly scratch your glass over time. Thats what I used to do....
If you don't mind putting your hands in the tank, Mr.Clean original Magic erasers work excellent for cleaning glass or acrylic tanks. No scratches, no chemicals. I will never use a magnet again....Magic for real!
(original only)
Get a kent algae scrapper for the hard coraline and you will be good.

Yeah I need to pick up a Kent scraper. There's some areas on the sides where I can't get to with the magnet. The magic eraser is a great idea. I almost need to rig something up with a magic eraser on a stick to get over in the corners.

[psteeleb]

Originally Posted by drummereef

Thanks P and don't be a stranger.

Now that I have a tank set up (again) I may be forced into keeping up with my favorite build logs on RC

that reminds me I need to update my new build log, the tank is fully up and runnng but no display critters; just live rock and stocked refugium. I'll have the first new tenants in the display this weekend.

[drummereef]

Originally Posted by psteeleb

Now that I have a tank set up (again) I may be forced into keeping up with my favorite build logs on RC

that reminds me I need to update my new build log, the tank is fully up and runnng but no display critters; just live rock and stocked refugium. I'll have the first new tenants in the display this weekend.

Woohoo, congrats on the new system! Sorry if I'm a little behind but what happened to your old system? It was doing so well. Oh and next time you see Marc tell him to stay out of trouble for me.

[psteeleb]

Originally Posted by drummereef

Woohoo, congrats on the new system! Sorry if I'm a little behind but what happened to your old system? It was doing so well. Oh and next time you see Marc tell him to stay out of trouble for me.

Telling Marc to stay out of trouble!!!; I know better then to waste the words

As for my 300g - a seam busted, at 1:00 am while I was out of state the wife calls in a panic and gets me out of bed at 2:00am, my first thoughts are one of my kids was in a car accident.

I was lucky to have some great aquarium friends in the area. A huge thanks to BigJay who came over at 1:30 in the morning to help drain the top 1/3 of the tank and pull some of the corals and to a couple more guys that came over the next day that pulled everything else. Even though they pulled everything within 24 hours and got it in other systems, not many of the corals survived. So I'm starting over but with a smaller setup as I just not around enough to deal with a 300g plus system.

[drummereef]

Originally Posted by psteeleb

Telling Marc to stay out of trouble!!!; I know better then to waste the words

As for my 300g - a seam busted, at 1:00 am while I was out of state the wife calls in a panic and gets me out of bed at 2:00am, my first thoughts are one of my kids was in a car accident.

I was lucky to have some great aquarium friends in the area. A huge thanks to BigJay who came over at 1:30 in the morning to help drain the top 1/3 of the tank and pull some of the corals and to a couple more guys that came over the next day that pulled everything else. Even though they pulled everything within 24 hours and got it in other systems, not many of the corals survived. So I'm starting over but with a smaller setup as I just not around enough to deal with a 300g plus system.

Whoa! Thank God no people were hurt and no fire. Goes to show you how good planning can help even in the worst of situations. Sorry that happened, such a bummer. What size is the new setup?

Oh and you have a good wife btw. Any wife that lets you continue in the hobby after an event like that is a keeper.

[psteeleb]

Originally Posted by drummereef

Whoa! Thank God no people were hurt and no fire. Goes to show you how good planning can help even in the worst of situations. Sorry that happened, such a bummer. What size is the new setup?

No kidding - my wife just happened to be up late and heard the sound of water behind the wall. otherwise it could have been much worse. The GFCI's did trip, after unpluggng all the electrical on the leak side of the tank (side where the water change tank and reactors sat) we got the main pumps and closed loop runnning agian - that was around 3:00 and over the phone instructions to my son and BigJay

The new set up is a 110g. It will also be a mixed reef but more LPS, rics and zoes with a few select SPS.

Originally Posted by drummereef

Oh and you have a good wife btw. Any wife that lets you continue in the hobby after an event like that is a keeper.

Definitly

[drummereef]

Originally Posted by psteeleb

No kidding - my wife just happened to be up late and heard the sound of water behind the wall. otherwise it could have been much worse. The GFCI's did trip, after unpluggng all the electrical on the leak side of the tank (side where the water change tank and reactors sat) we got the main pumps and closed loop runnning agian - that was around 3:00 and over the phone instructions to my son and BigJay

The new set up is a 110g. It will also be a mixed reef but more LPS, rics and zoes with a few select SPS.


Definitly

Wow, what a story. Glad to hear it's all taken care of and you're getting a fresh start. Send me a link to the build and I'll stop by.

[psteeleb]

here is the link to the old 300 - there are a few posts on what happened. Still upsetting looking at my last pictures before the event as things were realy looking good.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...1623091&page=9

here is the new build - but it needs an updated as it is now up and running but without livestock - first livestock is scheduled to arrive this week, so I should be positing updates soon
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1766400