180 Reef Upgrade

[raidendex]

Well the tank is finally here and on the stand. Gave it a quick scrub with baking soda and then vinegar.

Had only 55g of RO water, so that's what went in for now. Will fill it up as more filters. Once the tank is full and no leaks or issues detected I will add the salt and mix it for a while before starting the move from 120 to 180



Equipment so far:

Display - 180g AGA - 6' x 2' x 2'
Rock - 180 lbs of BRS Pukani, 40 lbs rubble
Sand - 200 lbs Caribsea Ocean Direct Oolite
Stand - 4' tall tank footprint (Still need to skin it - doors etc)
Powerheads - Tunze 6105 x4, 6095 x2, 6015 x2, Koralia Evo 1400 x4 (Some will go in the sump or be extras)
Lights - DIY Cree 134 LEDs with Jarduino Controller (This is enough for two thirds of the tank, so will need another fixture will use 2 D120 fixtures from WingoLED at first)
Mesh Cover - BRS clear netting - 1/4"
Overflow - Dual 1" overflow box for smaller profile and cheaper tank (Herbie style for 0 noise!)

Sump - 120g AGA - 4' x 2' x 2'
Drain Filtration - 7" BRS sock (will see how I like them, might be using them from time to time only), will DIY holding bracket out of 1/4 PVC
Skimmer - SRO 3000
Return pump - Sicce 5.0
Controller - Apex
Doser - GHL 3 pump (BRS Ca, Alk, Mg from 1g glass jugs... Apple Cider :] )
Refugium Lighting - DIY Cree XM-L 16 LED (Covering 24x24 area set up as a chaeto farm) with 200mm cooling fan
Heaters - Eheim Ebo Jager 300w, Hydor 300w x2
Heater Controller - Ranco

Top off container - 20g AGA
Pump - random small pump running to a float valve in the sump


Will probably wait to do the move until next weekend, but will see how it goes I might do it sooner.

 

[sondinh]

Can't wait

 

[eg8r210]

55 gal of water looks so little in that big tank.

 

[KnownStrangeR]

you making me want to remove my overflows now. looking good. enjoy your adventure

 

[raidendex]

Thanks

Yeah, I never understood the point of giant overflow boxes, not like they hide 4" pipes in there or something, still only 2 1" wholes most of the time. Get all the same flow with one dual pipe overflow box that hangs on the back.

Did a bit more DIY today. Made the hood trim thing to go around the top and hide the black trim as well as a resting place for the fixture mounts. Basically, 2x2 frame that goes on top of the tank and then attach 1x6 trim around it shifted down enough to cover the black trim of the tank.

 

[bottled-ocean]

Looks and sounds nice let me know if you need help at all. Love to

 

[Cdodge1]

Looking good man!

 

[Lilmatty5dimes]

awesome. congrats on the upgrade. following along

 

[raidendex]

Thanks guys.

Got some new goodies in the mail today.

Main one being the Apex controller. Played with it for a few. Seems pretty cool. Will need to read up a bit more on programming, but I think I've figured it out.

Find it funny that it shows pH readings with no probe attached

Hopefully by this weekend I will be able to finish it all up and make the move.

 

[raidendex]

And I'm thinking to do this for the lights on 180.

Two solid blue are the current DIY modules from 120, four others are the value fixtures from reef breeders with a custom layout that would be close to my DIY.

More light than you really need, but will let me run them all at lower setting -> cooler. And will have less shadows as light will be coming in from all the angles... except of course those two 3" braces =.=

 

[likefish]

Keep the updates coming Michael! Excited to see how it all comes together!

 

[raidendex]

Hooked up the Apex to the for now just a saltwater tank yesterday.

Set up some program for the Tunzes to generate a fairly random flow, seem to be working nicely.

Here is the graph of Tunze outlet switching between different profiles

Have two 300w heaters in there now as well, so the water temp is good for the move. Will probably start it on Friday. Most of the stuff is now build, just need a box for the lights to sit in and run all the plumbing, but kind of need sump in place for that, which is now a display tank

If anyone needs help with Apex btw, I think I've figured out everything so should be able to help

 

[Swirlygig]

how do u dose? make sure low wattage items plug into relay outlets 4&8 i believe? they wont always shut off on a triacs...I almost OD my tank that way using 2 part

 

[raidendex]

Tank so far. Thing on top is a little rim to hide tank's black rim and provide some base for the lights. Into it inserted the light's legs. Light box will go on top of that and I will probably add bit more shielding around the edges to cut down on light spill.
Still have to make doors and stuff on the bottom lol.

Note my special tank ladder no problems with reaching in hehe



Inside so far, only mounted the apex outlets and base units, rest is just laying around. Will need to clean up cables etc. GHL doser is in the picture. It will be controlling itself. Apex will mainly control the tunze pumps and some things like lights.
I may keep doser in an outlet that will be switched off if pH goes out of range too much, but that's about it.

 

[raidendex]

Also speaking of controllers..

I got bit of a wave going, at least so far with the tank being empty, just under 1" I would say.

The type of wave is where ends of the tank are in sync and middle is opposite. So sides high - middle low, middle low - sides high.

Would you say this type of a wave is safer than the one side low other side high? Feels like my way there is less stress on the stand and perhaps the tank.

 

[raidendex]

Moved to the 180 this weekend. Still have a fair amount work to do to finish, but at least all the vital parts are up and running now. Will need to mounts some more outlets and run all the wiring, connect the dosing system, switch to ranco heater controller, make a better fitting screen lid for the top of the tank, fix up wiring up in the lights, adjust how the sump leds are mounted, and of course build doors for the stand

 

[Tenshoa]

Looks great!

 

[KnownStrangeR]

looking sweet. jealous you don't have overflows

 

[eg8r210]

Looking nice man. Lots of room to grow out.

 

[raidendex]

Thanks guys.

Been doing some clean up and adjustments here and there.
All the parts are in now like Ranco for heaters, GHL doser for alk, ca, mag, powerheads etc.
Wiring is fairly clean, but could use some more work Tunzes are the worst offenders here with so many wires from 6 of them ><

For powerheads:
I have 2 6105s (12v) and 2 6095 (18v) in the display tank (at 24v was bit too much flow) controlled by Apex
And 2 6105s (24v) and 2 6015s in the sump controlled by 7092.

Installed the filter sock yesterday. Made the frame out of 1/4" pvc, works pretty well, just need to adjust how the drain pipes are setup.

Another DIY item was used for the doser, made little hose holder out of 2" pvc. Cut out length wise about 1/2" opening so it would slide over the rim of the sump and drilled number of holes - one of top one on the bottom to feed each line through. Everything is sitting very tightly.

Finally, all the corals that were loose are mounted now.

So what's left is to redo the drain pipes, add some trim and doors to the stand, and some shielding to the hood so I don't see spots after every time I walk by the tank