280G+ Starphire In-Wall Build by ReefArtist

[ReefArtist]

Mike, here are a few pieces I picked up - some this week some a few weeks ago. A few will be in the Infinity and some in the main tank. One will be in a species tank.

Here's our anomone I picked up at FAOIS last week - I love it. If the Infinity has enough light (4 T5's) I would like to put her in it. I'm also not sure if it has enough flow to keep her in it. She has moved to a VERY low flow area in my 65g so she might like it. If it did work out I would also put two Naked Clowns in with her.

Here's something little I picked up resently - Purple Bonsai. It is a high light coral so needs to go into the 280.

Once these grow out they will be in the Infinity - these are much brighter red then my photo. They are called Valentine Day Massacre Palythoa - gotta love these!

Anyone that has been at my house knows I love Gorgonians - well this is a Blue Berry Gorgonian that I picked up at FAOIS Saturday - VERY hard to keep and will be placed in a species tank that is located in the fish room. It has flow, light, and feeding requirements and is very touchy about each. Note all the polyps are open - that's a start .

 

[ReefArtist]

These are some orange and green cloves I've had for about a year. They are touchy (I lost one colony) these have grown out and are doing good. I'd love to put a few in the Infinity but they might need a little more flow.

These are Mean Green Zoas and will be placed in the 280 and the Infinity - I've always loved the colors on these guys.

This is a new addition to my fish population. He's a Ecsenius lineatus or Klausewitz Blenny. He has already made himself a home in my 65g. When ready he'll go into the 280 - very cool to watch and is contantly picking at the rocks.

Just had to post a few photos that weren't building related - that's what it's all about .

 

[jay24k]

That anemone is sweet.

 

[ReefArtist]

Thank you very much Jason . This is my first anemone and I'm trying my best. When I first put him in the tank he was fine until night. I didn't know that's when they take off walking - surprise every morning - LOL. I read that they liked med flow and high light, well so far mine has made sure he is out of the flow and in a darker area. I'm just letting him do his thing - he's now in a cave with his tentacles sticking out. My clowns are afraid of it - LOL, but that's a good thing because the female is about the size of the anemone - she's a big girl!

Hey - I have your package ready to go and it will be sent first thing tomorrow morning!

 

[jay24k]

Cool. Just let me know the details and I'll fire it your way.

 

[WarDaddy]

amazing corals!!!! such a sweet system!

 

[erics3000]

wOW YOU MAKE ME WANT TO GO WORK ON MY TANK. NICE!!!!!!!!!!AMAZING!

 

[ReefArtist]

Thanks everyone I hope everything is going to make the transfer. Slow and easy and I think it will do just fine - I hope! I did add lots of pods so I'm hope this is going to help. Thanks Marcye for the advice!

 

[ReefArtist]

Well I’ve been busy designing my new Ozone systems and I think I have it finished â€"œ at least design wise. I wanted to make a reactor for the O3 and not have it going through my skimmer â€"œ the biggest reason being it cost well over 1k and I could make a reactor system for about $15.00. I believe it will work just as good and if I need to replace it in a year or two â€"œ not a big deal. So, here’s my design â€"œ with some ideas given to me from John of FAOIS â€"œ Thanks John!

I looked into getting 20” RO units which John could only get with a pressure release button. These buttons have a plastic cap a spring and a SS bolt that holds it together. I wanted to get rid of this and just plug the hole, most thought it couldn’t be done. Well all it took was a 3/16 inch hole plug and a #6 Hinged screw cover. I actually came up with two different ways to plug this hole â€"œ this is just the one I liked the best. To insure everything would remain leak proof I bonded it together using Weldon 2007.

This is what I needed to remove.

This is what I used to plug the hole - on the inside.

This is the #6 Screw Cover - This is used on the outside.

All was bonded in place using Weldon 2007 - this plug is not going anywhere!

This is with the hole plug in place.

This is the reverse view.

This is with the Screw plug in place - nice and clean looking.

This was my next challenge - removing the filter at the top - not an easy job.

Using these pliers from Harbor Freight - made the job easy - OK easier .

Here it is removed, now it's ready to be used.

 

[ReefArtist]

This is all the parts to my Ozone/reactor. I'm using 4" acrylic because I had it laying around and PVC will fit over it. Using the Weldon 2007 - melts the PVC and Acrylic together. so now all I need to do is add a few holes to the actual reactor and it's finished. BTW - I'm using bioballs to give the O3 lots of time in the reactor and I most likely will make a mixing area where the O3 and tank water will mix - not sure if this is necessary but might add it just to make sure.

 

[scottydo]

Wow.

 

[ReefArtist]

Oh - I forgot to let everyone know that the RO unit is for the carbon. The O3 will mix with the air in the Clearwater Tech unit, and the O3 with travel to the Ozone reactor and mix with water. Travel through the bio balls and then out into the RO unit that will be filled with Carbon. From there it will go back into the tank to make the trip again.

 

[poknsnok]

how is the air check valve going to attatch? or should I wait til tomorrow?

 

[ReefArtist]

You must wait - for everyone else here is the plan! The air check valve will be between the O3 unit and reactor. This will stop any water from backing up from the reactor and into the O3 unit - that would be a bad thing.

 

[poknsnok]

I closed my eyes..

 

[mflamb]

I really like your system. I have similar plans for O3 with John's O3 stuff. I like the bioballs. Good idea! I'll consider adding that to my O3 system.

 

[racksteris]

nice tank

 

[erics3000]

Carol i cant keep up with you. You just keep creating more and more work for me. I still havent finished my reflectors yet. Thanks for giving me a new project. Thansk for sharing all your info I am sure a lot of people really appreciate it alot and I am one.

Thanks

 

[jrcastro]

Nice tank. very informative thread.

I have a question of what type of foam did you lay under your tank? & what was the purpose?
Did this perfect the imperfections of the stand level?
I always thought it was not good to put foam unless it is a acrylic tank.

I had my 210 AGA tank leak last Sunday & was bummed.

Thanks in advance for any tips

 

[ReefArtist]

First off - thank you! We all share ideas and give advice on RC and I've learned so much from others as this project would not be possible without all of your inputs.

Mike - This is so easy to build and I'll be running lots of test to make sure everything works great, I don't see any problems with my design so far. We'll see if anything comes up and I'll for sure post.

racksteris and scottydo - Thank you very much .

erics3000 - you have a wonderful build going on so don't think I don't peak at your thread and get ideas!

jrcastro - Thank you. The foam was a requirement of GlassCages and from what I understand it will help level out the tank if one area is slightly off. One thing I found hard was finding the correct materal - 3/4" styrofoam. This this the blue stuff from Lowes. I found 3/4 foam at Home Depot but it wasn't as densely packed as the styrofoam brand. This is made by DOW - http://www.dow.com/styrofoam/na/res-us/products/blueguard.htm.

Very sorry to hear about your tank leak, were you able to get it fixed?