Cool. I'm looking forward to Barrett Jackson again. Last year had an incredible time. Need to get hooked up with vip seats again.
1000 Gallon Build- Here we go- Lots of Pictures
- Thread starter Socaltoaz
- Start date
Cool. I'm looking forward to Barrett Jackson again. Last year had an incredible time. Need to get hooked up with vip seats again.
No plans for a chiller. My whole house ac would need to go down before a chiller would help. I've lived in this area for about 5 years and not once have we had any issues with power loss. When we were designing the system, we discussed putting in a generator for emergencies but the cost to put one in was prohibitive and not worth it.
It's been a month since we added water. All parameters are looking good. Tank has gone through the cycle as far as I can tell. We had a slight spike of ammonia and and the nitrites and now everything is back to zero. I will be adding some chromis and clown fish over the coming weeks. I really want to get some anemones in there and have them start hosting the clowns. As much as I wanted some angel fish, I don't think I'm going to be going that route. Some nice star polyps would look nice. Maybe some hammer corals as well. I guess you call that a mixed reef? Fish coming soon.
scubadan206
Member
Still two things worth taking another look at down the road....
Most look at things like this as protection for a system that is worth far more to them than the cost of a chiller or generator.
Most look at things like this as protection for a system that is worth far more to them than the cost of a chiller or generator.
Sonicboom
Addicted to salt
Glad to hear everything is running smoothly, I would stay away from green star polpys unless you plan on restricting them to a single rock that does not come in contact with any other rocks, otherwise they can and will spread to everything like a weed. As far as anemones you really need to wait for the tank to be stable with near perfect water parameters, usually a year is safe
slief
RC Sponsor
He definitely won't need a chiller with that system. I have a smaller volume (650G) with the same pumps, LED lighting etc and even during the summer when it's 80+ in my house, my tank never gets above 82* which is a perfect summer temp. I haven't needed a chiller in years. Right now it's 76.7 in my tank. He's got more volume then I do and he keeps his house cooler too so his summer temps should be lower than mine.
Backup power is another story but with a tank that size, he should have plenty of resever o2 in that system to keep fish alive for several hours provided he doesn't go bonkers with fish. My tank can go about 6 hours without issue although I keep a small Honda generator just for that occasion.
:fun2::fun2:
iced98lx
New member
Going to take a really, really long time to raise that water temp if you opt to kill other things (Pumps/lights etc).
Glad to hear things are going well, looking forward to seeing the first fish swimming!!
Off topic question, are you a regular poster on Jalopnik/Oppo? There is someone over there with an SLS and it seems that car freaks and fish nerds seems to go hand in hand. (Bonus points if you're on AVS Forum!)
Glad to hear things are going well, looking forward to seeing the first fish swimming!!
Off topic question, are you a regular poster on Jalopnik/Oppo? There is someone over there with an SLS and it seems that car freaks and fish nerds seems to go hand in hand. (Bonus points if you're on AVS Forum!)
scubadan206
Member
I agree he will probably never need one. Unless/untill he needs one.
Peter in Canada had two of them to start with. I remember reading about programing them to come on in shifts to make sure they were always ready.
Eventually they just removed them entirely because the HVAC he set up was more than enough to regulate the temp. The chillers were in the wrong place in his system and actually made the water and air warmer.
I was suggesting to have plumbing set aside for the possibility. Also have the unit on hand in the parts cabinet.
This stuff just in case...
Nope. Not a poster on the other forum. Plan is to add some fish, wait a few days, add a few more fish wait a few days, add more fish. If levels stay stable, that is the plan. If ammonia or nitrites rise, will slow it down a bit.
800 gallons, should be able to tolerate a decent bio load. Just need to check and make sure nothing spikes.
800 gallons, should be able to tolerate a decent bio load. Just need to check and make sure nothing spikes.
I'm already plumbed, piped for a chiller. We decided to bail on it at the last minute. Budget was just way out of control as we were finishing the house. I needed to eliminate some of the non essentials.
Ricardo18
New member
Hey..who you calling a "Freak"?
With the water volume you have, unless you add a bunch of huge fish at the same time you should have nothing to worry about. FYI, Alex just got in a nice fat zebra eel, very cool critter and fish safe too. I recently added a small one to my system, he's a favorite inhabitant already. They are a bit clumsy but so far he hasn't disrupted any rocks or corals, and nothing is cemented/epoxied in place.
Your LED lights won't add any signifiant heat to the system, particularly with your vent hood arrangement even if the fans aren't running. Any extra heat will come from the multiple submerged pumps and your large UV unit. I think it is very reasonable for you to pass on a chiller at this time, but by next summer when you will have a substantial financial and emotional investment in livestock, and it starts heating to 110+ outside, I'd seriously consider it as a failsafe.
I primarily rely on central AC to maintain a stable temperature in the theater and fish room. But I did purchase a Teco TK3000, it was not terribly expensive in the scope of the whole system, and hopefully will prevent a disaster should there be a HVAC failure. Unfortunately after a few years, the starter motors and capacitors in the big HVAC compressors do crap out, it has happened on two of my eight Trane units since 2009; I had Lennox in my previous house, and they were significantly less reliable. Usually I can get them fixed same day, but occasionally parts have to be ordered and it takes a couple days. And once fixed, it can take a long time to pull down a room that has warmed to 90+ degrees!
The Teco chillers have a standard dual mode thermostatic controller, and the larger models have four internal accessory compartments. While it won't typically be needed here in Arizona, I did install a 400w heater in one and have (3) 15w UV units incoming for the others; the UV is intended for 'polishing' tank water, not for parasite control, given the wattage and flow rate, but still it's nice to have a 45w unit inside the chiller where it needs no extra plumbing, power supply, or controller.
Regarding backup power, I looked into installing an automatic natural gas backup generator but the installed price was prohibitively expensive and there were potential issues having it kick on reliably when the grid fails, which is the whole purpose of having it. Instead I bought several Icecap battery backups for my Gyre and Vortech pumps, and they should keep the water moving sufficiently and surface agitated for 1-2 days in the event of a major outage. I have experienced a few outages over the years, but thankfully all were relatively brief with duration of no more than a couple hours.
Your LED lights won't add any signifiant heat to the system, particularly with your vent hood arrangement even if the fans aren't running. Any extra heat will come from the multiple submerged pumps and your large UV unit. I think it is very reasonable for you to pass on a chiller at this time, but by next summer when you will have a substantial financial and emotional investment in livestock, and it starts heating to 110+ outside, I'd seriously consider it as a failsafe.
I primarily rely on central AC to maintain a stable temperature in the theater and fish room. But I did purchase a Teco TK3000, it was not terribly expensive in the scope of the whole system, and hopefully will prevent a disaster should there be a HVAC failure. Unfortunately after a few years, the starter motors and capacitors in the big HVAC compressors do crap out, it has happened on two of my eight Trane units since 2009; I had Lennox in my previous house, and they were significantly less reliable. Usually I can get them fixed same day, but occasionally parts have to be ordered and it takes a couple days. And once fixed, it can take a long time to pull down a room that has warmed to 90+ degrees!
The Teco chillers have a standard dual mode thermostatic controller, and the larger models have four internal accessory compartments. While it won't typically be needed here in Arizona, I did install a 400w heater in one and have (3) 15w UV units incoming for the others; the UV is intended for 'polishing' tank water, not for parasite control, given the wattage and flow rate, but still it's nice to have a 45w unit inside the chiller where it needs no extra plumbing, power supply, or controller.
Regarding backup power, I looked into installing an automatic natural gas backup generator but the installed price was prohibitively expensive and there were potential issues having it kick on reliably when the grid fails, which is the whole purpose of having it. Instead I bought several Icecap battery backups for my Gyre and Vortech pumps, and they should keep the water moving sufficiently and surface agitated for 1-2 days in the event of a major outage. I have experienced a few outages over the years, but thankfully all were relatively brief with duration of no more than a couple hours.
I think I'm screwed cause I need to build a second tank. I've been banging my head as to figure out the direction of the tank in terms of stocking and I'm at a crossroads. On the one hand I want large regal looking Angels like Blueface and French. On the other hand I want delicate stuff like clams and corals. I seriously should have built two tanks. Oh well. That's not going to happen so let's discuss today's stocking.
I added a couple of Green Chromis and a yellow tail blue damsel. Just 3 fish today after a month of cycling. All parameters are perfect. No ammonia, no nitrites. No nitrates. Fish are doing great and eating like champs.
I'll wait a bit and add some clownfish. Why clowns? It's the first thing my kids asked for so they get clowns. I'm not expecting any issues with water but I'll wait till the weekend and check the water again before I add more fish.
I'm probably being a bit paranoid about the adding of the fish but I think back to my last tank years ago and water parameters were all over the place and I never had good long term success. I also keep forgetting that probably my power heads today cost more than my entire set up back then.
So let's start with the Chromis, then add the clowns and I'll have to make a decision on the direction after that. Go full reef, mixed reef or stick with mostly fish. Damn- first world problems for sure.
I added a couple of Green Chromis and a yellow tail blue damsel. Just 3 fish today after a month of cycling. All parameters are perfect. No ammonia, no nitrites. No nitrates. Fish are doing great and eating like champs.
I'll wait a bit and add some clownfish. Why clowns? It's the first thing my kids asked for so they get clowns. I'm not expecting any issues with water but I'll wait till the weekend and check the water again before I add more fish.
I'm probably being a bit paranoid about the adding of the fish but I think back to my last tank years ago and water parameters were all over the place and I never had good long term success. I also keep forgetting that probably my power heads today cost more than my entire set up back then.
So let's start with the Chromis, then add the clowns and I'll have to make a decision on the direction after that. Go full reef, mixed reef or stick with mostly fish. Damn- first world problems for sure.
yifan917
New member
I think the tank and equipment are too nice to not be a full reef.
That said, your setup might be amenable to a divided system. Using a perforated acrylic panel that would be nearly invisible, you could keep large invert-incompatible fish on one side, and a full reef with safe fish on the other.
I'm trying to thread the needle with crosshatch triggers and a regal angelfish, which so far have not touched any corals. Wish I could say the same for the sohal tang, who's become massive and a threat to corals - he's killed a couple LPS already
So much for tangs being reef safe, when they big they eat whatever looks appealing to them.
That said, your setup might be amenable to a divided system. Using a perforated acrylic panel that would be nearly invisible, you could keep large invert-incompatible fish on one side, and a full reef with safe fish on the other.
I'm trying to thread the needle with crosshatch triggers and a regal angelfish, which so far have not touched any corals. Wish I could say the same for the sohal tang, who's become massive and a threat to corals - he's killed a couple LPS already
So much for tangs being reef safe, when they big they eat whatever looks appealing to them.Similar threads
