150 Gallon SPS/Mixed Build Thread

[matt the fiddler]

Well, I think the Sequence/ Reeflo is going to be the closed loop pump.. I have been emailing them, and think I will end up with the newer Black fin model that puts out 3600 gph. they had one that puts out 6000 for not too much more.. that is just ridiculous

I will likely have a panworld for sale once I get that in.

 

[matt the fiddler]

Wow, look what the UPS man brought today..

can't wait to crank this thing full open! still in need of the tank ha ha

 

[matt the fiddler]

So, do you guys recommend the ASM skimmers?

I was eyeing a few of them (for improved watt consumption) and since I am barebottom, would likely need what a g4+ w/ sendra 9000?

oh yea, i might be going a 180.. and adding a foot to the tank

 

[matt the fiddler]

scratch that.. I am eyeing a turbofloater 5000 now.

thoughts?

 

[Dave Dunbar]

Hey Matt
The 5000 is a good skimmer but have you thought about any of the cones? Seem to have come down in price alittle? Really any of them will out preform the 5000. SMC has some nice models out
Just a thought
Keep the pics coming
Nice rock work
Dave

 

[matt the fiddler]

So the next question...

How long do I have to wait for the LR that is cemented together to cure?

most of my rock is cement free... while others have basball sized, or soft ball sized of crete' on their undersides holding it all in.

If i set the tank up to cycle and populate w/ saltwater ... how many "not so cured" areas in my rock work could I get away with with 200- 260 gallons of water volume?


I will plan to start the tank's cycle and repopulation of the rocks that don't have the crete first, and add those in as I can later if there are problems.

 

[matt the fiddler]

So, the tank I am looking at has a tempered bottom, so the bottom drilling is not an option. The price is right though

I am thinking of framing the viewing window of the tank so that you can't see the outside 3" on the L and R.. and running a 1" pipe down there in the corner, then jog over for the outlet ... I just have to make sure that the plumbing is pretty hidden.

_____________
I have been doing a lot of research of fish species, and one goal is going to be to imitate a shoal of Anthias from the wild.

I am looking at primarily a 1M, 4-8F school of Barlett's, Potentially some Dispar or Lyretail if I can get the social structure to work and the picking on to be mellowed out. Also, Midas Blennies socially mimmic and school with those 3 species of Anthias in the wild... something I hope to recreate.

Lyretails are a little more aggressive than the Dispar, but a little more hardy.

I like the squarespot, but they are a deeper water species and like a little darker light than my tank will have.

_______________
Also, bought the aquasurf for my aquacontroller this weekend. that will give me some fun with the tunzes, whether I decide to create the wavebox style waves, or reinforce the barrel roll effect going in the tank

 

[matt the fiddler]

Does anyone local have any Gracilaria they would like to share?

 

[matt the fiddler]

a couple fun pics and videos of where I have come..

First, my most missed fish.. the BlueChin Trigger that bottlefed.

<object width="576" height="432" ><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="movie" value="http://www.facebook.com/v/535670789492" /><embed src="http://www.facebook.com/v/535670789492" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="576" height="432"></embed></object>

 

[apjohnson]

So what was the cause of the crash? The more detail you can give, the more hope that someone else will be able to avoid the same demise...

--AJ

 

[matt the fiddler]

I had a big thread on it a while ago. On Christmas day 1 1/2 years ago.......

every device on my tank started turning off and on randomly. Lights, top off pump, kalk stirring pump, etc. Tank got to a ph of above 10 and a temp above 90. once it ran out of kalk water to dump in.. and everything died... due to my overengineering and built in redundancy on the darn thing... the tank stabilized in 12- 24 hours back to normal ph and sustained the rest of the coral will I got there to rescue it.. I was in St. Louis.. and rushed back. amazingly i had a few corals that survived...

i thought it was x-10 interference. (after research i will only put noncritical components on x-10)
about 3 months later when I was re hooking up a 25 gallon with a DC-8 ding ding ding. the problem was still there....

The CPU brain on my aquacontroller III was totally fried... that was the source. after several tests on it over the phone with them i sent it back, they replaced some components.. and i have a working controller now.



I lost.. lets see here. 25+ SPS colonies grown from frags, tons of zoos (some survived) some nice ricordia, and all my fish.

Moral of the story? Even with redundancy on almost everything (a big design item for me on the last tank) things can go wrong.

So there will be even more in my new tank build! i am not putting on 2 controllers, but I will try to get it that any one device being turned on or off 100% does not kill the tank. I am going to use dosing pumps that have limited output for topoff, smaller kalk reactors, etc..


http://www.greateriowareefsociety.o...abid/78/aff/9/aft/4275/afv/topic/Default.aspx



you know, it almost would have been easier if I could have blamed myself for the darn crash.

 

[apjohnson]

Wow. Tragic. We put so much trust on the controller to monitor and report things, I never really considered how a situation like that would be handled. Did you find root cause for the AC3 failure? Did you have your AC3 sending out any kind of alerts or anything (I think they can do that, right?)

 

[matt the fiddler]

it was so fried I didn't get the text from it that i should have..


I got a call from my landlord saying people below had skimmate running down their walls.

dumped probably 10- 15 gallons of very wet skiimate ... needless to say my autostop was not designed to work under a tank of massive death....

but, yes I do have it wired to call me if there are problems with my parameters.


the root cause was the cpu was running at half speed... not sure why other than it just went bad. as I said in the other thread Kurt, from Neptune said it was the only time he had ever seen that. I still do use Neptune, and would recommend them to friends. I just got the freak rouge one... likely won't happen again.



i can't build redundancy in everything everything.. but I am surly going to try to build as fool proof as setups come. (within my budget)

eventually that will be a full blown power generator.. right now I do have an 800 watt inverter for my car that can run pumps, and other life support stuff.

 

[snowman82]

the power converter is my backup plan incase of outage

 

[matt the fiddler]

those Inverters are real deals... a lot less than a generater.. but if you can get you car close... you can keep your tank alive.


If you don't have the power in that line for a heater... you can always light a few candles under the tank.....

 

[snowman82]

yeah i could light a candle.....but that would defeat the purpose cause the stand would then be on fire so no more need for the converter haha

 

[matt the fiddler]

Yet another change in plans.....
I might be going the acrylic route.

I will keep you guys posted

 

[matt the fiddler]

well I picked up my tank today


a 185 5x2x2.5 foot acrylic tank (made with 1/2" acrylic so I am happy)... so the 150 "planned" size it slightly off


Hopefully I can start get the stand built and basically plumbed in the next 2...
Since I am going Barebottom, I still have to decide if I am putting black starboard in the bottom....


I do have a central black overflow.

 

[matt the fiddler]

ok,

here is the acrylic tank I got.. I have to make some decisions now. the overflow is better than a corner.. but not as cool as the Calfo. I am likely going to live with this... I could hack the bottom out.. but that will look crappy.

1- I think that is where my main bulkheads will go for the closed loop. Need to decide that intake location (the big 2") (the ones NOT in the overflow are not drilled.

2- Since the tank does not have corner overflows, and looks good, I need to decide in the wall with 1 viewing pane, or out in the room with 3. I am leaning to more viewing room.. though that would slightly isolate the sump room from the tank. Oh well.

Anyone in the quadcities have a hole saw bit that can cut acrylic that is 2 3/4" ? my largest hole bit is 2 1/4" so close....

 

[matt the fiddler]

Plans for the stand... over engineered is the plan

i went 1/2" wider on each side, so the stand will be 61"x25" sitting about 30"

I will finish the top with 3/4 plywood and 3/4 foam...

I will likely add an internal ring for bottom bracing.

the spaces between the cross braces is 17" and 19" .. well under the 24" recommended

The 1" hangover is my conservation of a sheet of plywood. (4x8 only goes so far with a 2x5 tank after the bleed room) I will put scrap 3/4" ply under there, or cut a puzzle piece joint....

the crossbraces are planned to be 2x6's and 2x4 for the front and back. Surly I don't need to up that to 2x8s w/ 2x6 front pieces.


I may or may not finish her off with a veneer. If I don't, I will likely add a few diagonal pieces just to prevent sideways tipping.


I included a closeup of the puzzle joint I am going to cut.. but dang, I need a finishing blade first. (or to borrow a saw from a neighbor)