1000 Gallon Build- Here we go- Lots of Pictures
- Thread starter Socaltoaz
- Start date
nice
Thanks reefchile. Tank has been a labor of love. Am enjoying the whole process very much. I need to do a big photo update and give a written update. I have automated much of the tank but still have not apex and really don't intend to. And don't tell anyone- my qt tank that I was planning on setting up never really got off the ground. So far about 40 fish all doing well with no qt. :beer::beer::wave::spin3:
I know, I know I'm playing with fire but at this point I'm not adding any more fish so may have dodged a bullet. I'll detail how I did this in a subsequent post.z
I know, I know I'm playing with fire but at this point I'm not adding any more fish so may have dodged a bullet. I'll detail how I did this in a subsequent post.z
F8 magnet for cleaning acrylic up to 2 inches thick from mightymagnets.com $359
Algae dozer accessory pads - 2 pack for $13.50
The ability to remove stubborn caked on algae from the inside of the aquarium when nothing else would work- Priceless!!!!
Thank you Achilles Torben for the suggestion. These suckers work awesome!!!
https://vimeo.com/156048920
Algae dozer accessory pads - 2 pack for $13.50
The ability to remove stubborn caked on algae from the inside of the aquarium when nothing else would work- Priceless!!!!
Thank you Achilles Torben for the suggestion. These suckers work awesome!!!
https://vimeo.com/156048920
Achilles Torben
Member
This tip I received at Reefcentral! Thanks to the forum.
This forum is fantastic and everyone is so helpful. I was seriously getting depressed with the amount of algae on the panes that I could not remove. This dozer pad made quick work of it and its an ingenious idea.
If you look at the picture - for those that don't know what it its, on the algae scrubber pad, they essentially took a rubber piece and glued it on- that rubber piece allows you to get more force to remove the algae. Best part is that if a small piece of sand or coral gets stuck, it wont scratch the tank cause the rubber piece is the only thing in contact with the acrylic- not the acrylic pad.
Very cool product and I give a huge thumbs up to mighty magnets. If you are looking for a way to clean large tanks, I highly recommend mighty magnets.com Twice a week cleaning is all you will need to keep your tank pristine. Love love love this!
If you look at the picture - for those that don't know what it its, on the algae scrubber pad, they essentially took a rubber piece and glued it on- that rubber piece allows you to get more force to remove the algae. Best part is that if a small piece of sand or coral gets stuck, it wont scratch the tank cause the rubber piece is the only thing in contact with the acrylic- not the acrylic pad.
Very cool product and I give a huge thumbs up to mighty magnets. If you are looking for a way to clean large tanks, I highly recommend mighty magnets.com Twice a week cleaning is all you will need to keep your tank pristine. Love love love this!
Something to look forward to is once your tank matures and is kept stable you'll find you only have to clean the glass/acrylic ~once a month. Especially if you're carbon dosing as the light whitish bacteria biofilm will be what you see as it out competes algae. My tank walls just end up having a reduction in clarity from the bacteria rather than unsightly algae.
Good to know CuzzA. My tank is coming up on 6 months and I have to be honest the most exciting part for me has been how relatively stable it has been. Sure Ive had my ups and downs with algae and such but I remember my last tank years ago on a shoe string budget, I was not sure if the next fish that I put in was going to survive or not. I had canister filters, wet drys etc etc- no real resources to "do it right"
Now things just feel right. I love my mighty magnet- has been a god send.
Other great things that I implemented on the advice of the great members here are the Reef Genesis water change system- truly hands off. Water just gets automatically changed. I just need to make water about twice a month but that too is as easy as flipping a couple of switches.
I have yet to implement Apex and frankly I don't think Im going to do it. Ive got Control 4 as my home automation system and Im going to hook up my return pumps and my powerheads to my Control 4 so that with a flip of a switch or remotely with my iPhone, I can turn off my pumps and powerheads.
I owe everyone a major photo update and Ill get around to it. Have been busy with work- as soon as things settle down, going to pull out the big DSLR camera with the macro lens and try to get some close up photos.
Now things just feel right. I love my mighty magnet- has been a god send.
Other great things that I implemented on the advice of the great members here are the Reef Genesis water change system- truly hands off. Water just gets automatically changed. I just need to make water about twice a month but that too is as easy as flipping a couple of switches.
I have yet to implement Apex and frankly I don't think Im going to do it. Ive got Control 4 as my home automation system and Im going to hook up my return pumps and my powerheads to my Control 4 so that with a flip of a switch or remotely with my iPhone, I can turn off my pumps and powerheads.
I owe everyone a major photo update and Ill get around to it. Have been busy with work- as soon as things settle down, going to pull out the big DSLR camera with the macro lens and try to get some close up photos.
Good to hear. I'm looking forward to seeing your tank progress and in another year it won't even look the same as your corals grow.
As for the Apex... I think the biggest benefit is the ability to add failsafes with notification. Things like solenoids, float switch alarms, leak detectors and power shut offs using parameters like conductivity, ph and temperature can save your tank from disaster. Probably the biggest tank saver with the Apex is when dosing and fresh water top offs. I don't recall how large your freshwater reservoir is but if it's significant and something fails it could obviously cause havoc, especially if you're using calcium hydroxide. Same goes for dosing. I love incorporating solenoids that will close if say for example my ph were to spike too high indicating too much kalk or additive is being introduced. Couple that with programming power off statements you have a backup if for whatever reason the outlet failed to turn off. Which does happen. I've learned in reefing regarding failsafes, along with other hobbies, that two is one and one is none.
Of course a simple solution to this is just don't keep large reservoirs of additives, that way if something did fail the tank won't be shocked as bad. But the tank still would be effected.
You've done a lot and it seems like your tank is close to going on cruise control, when you have some free time play around with the Apex. I think you will find value in it.
As for the Apex... I think the biggest benefit is the ability to add failsafes with notification. Things like solenoids, float switch alarms, leak detectors and power shut offs using parameters like conductivity, ph and temperature can save your tank from disaster. Probably the biggest tank saver with the Apex is when dosing and fresh water top offs. I don't recall how large your freshwater reservoir is but if it's significant and something fails it could obviously cause havoc, especially if you're using calcium hydroxide. Same goes for dosing. I love incorporating solenoids that will close if say for example my ph were to spike too high indicating too much kalk or additive is being introduced. Couple that with programming power off statements you have a backup if for whatever reason the outlet failed to turn off. Which does happen. I've learned in reefing regarding failsafes, along with other hobbies, that two is one and one is none.
Of course a simple solution to this is just don't keep large reservoirs of additives, that way if something did fail the tank won't be shocked as bad. But the tank still would be effected.
You've done a lot and it seems like your tank is close to going on cruise control, when you have some free time play around with the Apex. I think you will find value in it.
I get all the failsafes that can be done with Apex but the process seems overly complex to me. Im a techie but I have no energy or desire to figure out the crazy Apex code. Likely I'm just intimidated by trying to figure it out and how it would work and Im already comfortable with my set up.
Im not dosing but am considering kalkwasser in my top off. My top off is about 60 gallons- my total volume is about 1000 gallons- doubtful there will be a disaster even iff all the top off ends up in my tank. I have a float valve as redundancy in my top off container, along with an ROCV from Genesis systems and I have a float valve in my sump so if the sump level gets too high, the float valve turns off the top off.
The Salt water change is also automated and there is float valve redundancy.
The one disaster that I have no control over is if I blow some pvc or if my unions and ball valves in my tank drain- really nothing I can do for that other than make sure the drains I have under my sump and my tank are not clogged.
So Ive researched Apex, have gotten some great advice from the knowledgable members here but I just cant get myself to commit to it cause it just seems redundant to what I already have and overly complex.
Ive read a ton of threads here and every person is getting the latest do dad and gadget for their tank and while I have my fair share of gadgets and automation I also want to stay simple.
To set up an overly complex top off system only to have it fail- well- is it because things fail or you made it too complex. I don't know, I'm still learning and still exploring my tank but all I can tell you that its been a great journey and all the dollars, hours and hours of planning consulting have been well worth it.
Im not dosing but am considering kalkwasser in my top off. My top off is about 60 gallons- my total volume is about 1000 gallons- doubtful there will be a disaster even iff all the top off ends up in my tank. I have a float valve as redundancy in my top off container, along with an ROCV from Genesis systems and I have a float valve in my sump so if the sump level gets too high, the float valve turns off the top off.
The Salt water change is also automated and there is float valve redundancy.
The one disaster that I have no control over is if I blow some pvc or if my unions and ball valves in my tank drain- really nothing I can do for that other than make sure the drains I have under my sump and my tank are not clogged.
So Ive researched Apex, have gotten some great advice from the knowledgable members here but I just cant get myself to commit to it cause it just seems redundant to what I already have and overly complex.
Ive read a ton of threads here and every person is getting the latest do dad and gadget for their tank and while I have my fair share of gadgets and automation I also want to stay simple.
To set up an overly complex top off system only to have it fail- well- is it because things fail or you made it too complex. I don't know, I'm still learning and still exploring my tank but all I can tell you that its been a great journey and all the dollars, hours and hours of planning consulting have been well worth it.
Achilles Torben
Member
I don't understand the acrylic tank builders. Why they don't offer the best equipment for cleaning their build tanks? I think many people will be happy with the right equipment!
The learning curve on the Apex, is probably not as bad as you think, and after you program everything, it will go right back to simpletown again.
You could even set it all up, and give someone permission to write all your programming for you online via Apex Fusion... Just a thought, but it seems almost ludicrous not to, to us in the know...
You could even set it all up, and give someone permission to write all your programming for you online via Apex Fusion... Just a thought, but it seems almost ludicrous not to, to us in the know...
I agree. It's just one of those things where I have paralysis by analysis. I keep thinking all the things you can do with Apex and not wanting to screw up I get overwhelmed by having to set it up. Right now I'm comfortable- tank is humming along and the cons of having to buy install program and learn the system greatly outweigh the benefits for now in my mind.
woodnaquanut
Active member
I'm a big fan of Apex. It gives you the ability to adjust, monitor and perhaps even control your tank. No other way to remotely accomplish this unless you have tank minions!
It's not impossible to set up. That's my way of saying it's harder than simple!
There is lots of help on the Apex forum. I recommend setting it up with just a desk lamp attached to it and practice controlling that. Monitoring pH and temp are also harmless.
Once you get comfortable with the light you can expand to more sophisticated control.
You don't know what you don't know and I certainly don't know what I do t know about Apex. I'm willing to look into it but not right now. I researched it earlier and really see no compelling g reason in my case to install it. Not saying it won't benefit me. I'm just saying I need to figure out how it will benefit me and will it be worth the trouble. Right now, I do t think it's worth it.
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